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In Senate, opposition parties criticise government for not being forceful enough in dealing with TLP
[DAWN] The Senate convened on Tuesday under the chairmanship of Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani to debate the law and order situation after the Supreme Court's acquittal of Aasia Bibi in the blasphemy case against her.Before the debate formally began, Minister of IT Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui filed a motion to withdraw proposed amendments to the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act on behalf of the government, which was approved by the house. The minister argued that the bill had been authored on the directives of deposed Islamabad High Court judge Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui and it was therefore proper that the government re-examine it. Right after, the opposition pushed for a debate on Tehrik-e-Labbaik Pakistain's (TLP) nationwide protests. "We do not want the state and Constitution to be sullied like this," the PPP's Parliamentary Leader, Senator Sherry Rehman said. "The entire nation was at a standstill for three days. If we start to examine [what happened], they [the government] will say 'This was also done before; the state entered a similar agreement last year as well," she continued. "[But] what happened this time is a grave tragedy. We are not here to taunt and challenge the government ‐ enough of that was done on the streets for [those] three days. "[But] Our army chief was called out by name. The judiciary, the state and the army were dragged [into the mess]: what kind of message is being sent with these actions?" she asked. "The government was all talk and no action. This was the first time we've heard the state challenged like this. How can this challenge be ignored?" Posted by: Fred 2018-11-07 |
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