ISLAMABAD, Nov 6: Political rivals made parliamentary history on Wednesday by holding parallel sessions of the Senate as a dispute between the opposition and the interior minister over a reply to a question about civilian casualties caused by US drone attacks intensified.

While a majority of the 104 members of the upper house met outside the parliament building, the regular session was held at the main Senate hall. It was presided over by Senate Chairman Nayyar Bokhari and attended by a minority of members from the ruling PML-N, the Jamiat Ulemai-i-Islam (F) and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement.

The members on the treasury benches asked Chairman Bokhari, who belongs to the opposition PPP, to declare the other sitting “illegal and unconstitutional” through a ruling. But he said that he could not run the session without the opposition and asked the government members to resolve the issue and bring back the boycotting senators.

While the regular session was adjourned by the chairman within 45 minutes without taking up the agenda, the other sitting continued for almost two hours. The members belonging to the PPP, PML-Q, Awami National Party and Balochistan National Party-A delivered fiery speeches mainly targeting Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan and criticising the government policy on the issue of terrorism.

A majority of the opposition members — including prominent leaders like Afrasiab Khattak, Raza Rabbani, Farhatullah Babar, Zahid Khan, Shahi Syed and Rehman Malik — sat on the ground cross-legged and followed the directives coming intermittently from the presiding officer, Ahmed Hassan of the PPP.

At least 10 members, including Leader of Opposition in the Senate Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan, Jahangir Badar and some women senators, were sitting on chairs.

The presiding officer took the proceedings so seriously that at one point, he expunged personal remarks passed by Senator Saeed Ghani against Chaudhry Nisar.

The Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly, Syed Khurshid Shah, and a few PPP MNAs, including Naveed Qamar and Akhundzada Chatan, witnessed the proceedings for some time.

When ANP’s Ilyas Bilour informed the chair on a point of order that a stranger (Khurshid Shah) was sitting in the ‘house’, Aitzaz Ahsan said that Mr Shah was sitting in the “visitors’ gallery”. Khurshid Shah is Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly

The proceedings of what Aitzaz Ahsan termed an “alternative Senate” were held in front of TV cameras during which the members spoke on points of order and criticised the government and the interior minister for their alleged stubbornness.

The opposition parties, excepting the MQM, have been boycotting the Senate session since Oct 30 when the interior minister allegedly provided wrong information about the number of civilians killed in US drone attacks and later refused to withdraw it. The opposition has announced that it will continue to hold the session outside the parliament house till the minister withdraws the reply.

Senator Ghani said that the minister had breached the privilege of the Senate thrice --- first by submitting a wrong reply, then by refusing to withdraw it and, finally, by writing a letter to the Senate chairman instead of explaining his position before the house.

He advised the prime minister to “get rid” of Chaudhry Nisar and said that an “egoistic person” was not suitable for holding talks with Taliban.

Mr Ghani was supported by Farhatullah Babar who said: “The minister has no right to remain in office and should immediately be sacked.” He alleged that the PML-N was giving wrong replies since it had come to power through “flawed voting”.

Zahid Khan of the ANP said Chaudhry Nisar had a “dictatorial mindset” because he was a product of Gen Zia’s martial law.

Senator Moula Bakhsh Chandio of the PPP alleged that Chaudhry Nisar had always created problems for his party’s chief Nawaz Sharif, holding him responsible for making Pervez Musharraf army chief and wounding the senators’ sentiments.

Raza Rabbani said the opposition would not allow anyone to take parliament hostage.

Opening debate on the issue of recent drone attacks, Afrasiab Khattak alleged that the government was presenting the US point of view by coming up with wrong statistics.

He regretted that the killers of thousands of innocent people had been declared stakeholders, alleging that the government had become a “B-team” of terrorists.

The PML-Q’s Kamil Ali Agha said many people believed that the US had carried out the latest drone strike with the connivance of the government. He claimed that the US had refused to allow the government to hold talks with Taliban. When Nawaz Sharif told the US that they had made a commitment with the nation in this regard, it provided them a way out.

Abdul Nabi Bangash of the ANP alleged that the government was trying to justify drone strikes by stating that fewer civilians had been killed in the attacks than militants.

He ridiculed JUI-F leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Munawar Hassan of the Jamaat-i-Islami for declaring Taliban commander Hakeemullah Mehsud a martyr. If he was a martyr then what about those who had been killed by militants, he asked.

“Chaudhry Nisar says that peace has been murdered. Was Mehsud a messenger of peace,” he put another question.

The senator alleged that those who had promised to hold trial of Pervez Musharraf under Article 6 of the constitution had struck a deal under which the former dictator would be allowed to leave the country. “If Musharraf leaves the country, we will be justified in believing that the rulers were provided mandate from one province under a deal,” Mr Bangash added.

The presiding officer adjourned the sitting to Thursday when the government and the opposition will again hold separate sessions.