ISLAMABAD: The main opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) on Wednesday expressed fears that the present policies of the government could derail democracy in the country and asked the rulers to have a reconciliatory attitude towards the opposition.

“Advise your leader not to drag the opposition and not to engage them in cases. Mere allegations will not work... Show grace and talk to the opponents,” said PML-N stalwart Khawaja Saad Rafique while pointing to the treasury benches after criticising Prime Minister Imran Khan for “ongoing political victimisation” of the opposition leaders.

“No one wants any concession from you, but the people of the country want relief,” Mr Rafique said while taking part in a general debate on the federal budget in the National Assembly which remained in session for more than 12 hours.

Criticising the government for handling coronavirus and locust attacks through the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), Mr Rafique asked the prime minister to hand over the government to the NDMA headed by a serving lieutenant general, if he could not run it. He said he personally knew NDMA chief Lt Gen Muhammad Afzal, who was a hardworking man and he had seen him working as head of the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO).

The PML-N stalwart warned that if the situation in Pakistan was not changed, then everyone, including the government, the opposition and all other institutions, would become “irrelevant”. He regretted that “civilians have not been able to govern the country, people are not getting justice, those who are responsible to provide security are unable to do it and the opposition is unable to unite”.

Asks Imran to hand over government to NDMA if he can’t run it

He said if things were not changed, then tomorrow the youth would come out on streets and destroy everything in the country.

“After the fall of Kashmir, now the fall of economy has already occurred,” he added.

Mr Rafique said the government was not in a position and had no capacity to hold talks with the opposition. He said the government had been left with a majority of just 11 votes. He, however, assured the treasury members that the opposition had no plan to bring a no-confidence motion against the prime minister.

He said the ministers had started giving statements exposing infighting which was a clear indication that the time of the government was about to run out. The PML-N leader said they had ridiculed the office of the prime minister so much that tomorrow “those who make prime ministers and ministers” would not find anyone to accept the office. Mr Rafique said the government had failed to control coronavirus and handle locusts as its focus was on putting the opposition members behind bars.

Earlier, taking part in the debate, another PML-N leader and former deputy speaker Murtaza Javed Abbasi said that after the decision of the Balochistan National Party-Mengal to come out of the ruling coalition, the prime minister should have sought a vote of confidence from parliament.

Dr Nafeesa Shah of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) held the government responsible for the spread of coronavirus in the country. She warned that the situation could go out of control if effective and timely actions were not taken to prevent the spread of Covid-19. She asked the speaker to issue a production order for veteran party leader Syed Khurshid Shah and called for declaring him “Father of Parliament”.

Return ticket for Nawaz Sharif

Adviser to the Prime Minister on Parliamentary Affairs Babar Awan on Wednesday said the government was ready to book ticket for former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, if he wanted to return to Pakistan.

Responding to the speech of PML-N’s Murtaza Abbasi, Mr Awan said as per the Constitution, freedom of movement was a fundamental right of every citizen.

“If he [Nawaz Sharif] wants to come back to Pakistan, if he wants to do party politics, the government has no objection to it. On the day, he takes the decision along with others to return to Pakistan, we will book tickets for them,” he said.

Speaking on a point of personal explanation, Minister for Communications Murad Saeed said Prime Minister Khan had been facing personal attacks since the formation of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf in 1996. The minister said he had been ridiculed by 21 opposition members in their speeches during the budget debate. He said he did not bother about the personal attacks and always took up the issues logically.

He said when he mentioned that at least seven members of the opposition had contacted him for a deal and that one of the members was sitting in the house, the PML-N spokesperson had herself come to him and asked if he was talking about party MNA from Shangla Dr Ibadullah. He also indirectly criticised PPP’s Abdul Qadir Patel for using indecent language against him the previous day.

Meanwhile, the National Assembly passed a unanimous resolution condemning use of inappropriate language about Hazrat Fatima and Ahle Bait on social media by a cleric and asked the government to take action against him under blasphemy laws. The resolution was read out by PPP’s Shagufta Jumani.

Published in Dawn, June 25th, 2020