- Says govt attitude for not taking parliament into confidence regarding decisions on important issues is regrettable
ISLAMABAD, February 12: Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah has denounced the government for not taking the Parliament into confidence over LNG deal with Qatar worth $16 billion. He said the government attitude for not taking parliament into confidence regarding decisions on important issues is regrettable. He said parliament should be given importance. He said masses should take big decisions of the country instead of IMF. He said the agreement of previous government regarding LNG was transparent but Justice Chaudhry did not allow signing this agreement.
Initiating the debate in National Assembly, Khurshid Ahmad Shah said the Parliament should be given Continued on page 7
Continued from front page
due importance and all decisions should be made in the House. He said the House was not taking into confidence on agreement regarding import of LNG from Qatar. He criticized the government over passage of bill in haste to convert PIA into a public limited company. He also criticized the use of force against protesting PIA employees in which two employees lost their lives. Shah termed driving the decision power out of the Parliament, solely in government’s hands a ‘sad’ act. Whenever it faces difficult times, the government returns to the Parliament, he added. Unfortunately the government is unaware of the power that the Parliament bestows on its members. It aches when ministers term opposition’s arguments ‘politics’. Whenever the Parliament was not given its due importance, a conspiracy was hatched against it, he added. Shah said that not every decision is taken with money. While criticising in the National Assembly, Shah said that former government’s agreement pertaining to LNG was transparent but ex-chief justice (CJ) Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry did not let the government go through with the deal. He vowed to inform the participants about Pakistan International Airline’s (PIA) losses since 2006. Major decisions should not be taken by International Monetary Fund (IMF) but the people of the country, he added. The Opposition Leader said that the state, without any doubt has immense power but one could imagine how dangerous the situation becomes if leader of a country succumbs to dictatorial behavior. Workers of the party that had promised load shedding-free Pakistan beat their own people for protesting against outages. Shah further said that Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) did not snatch ‘breads from labourers’ mouths’ during its tenure. The Opposition Leader will continue his speech on Monday when the House meets at four in the afternoon.-Sabah
