PPPP demands debate on each LFO clause

Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: Aitzaz Ahsan of the Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) opened the debate on the constitutional amendments bill in the National Assembly (NA) on Friday demanding each clause of the Legal Framework Order (LFO) be brought before the assembly.

Mr Ahsan contended that the government had introduced 29 amendments in the LFO but put only 10 amendments before the NA. “Had the government brought all the amendments before the house instead of bringing pieces, we might have supported some,” he said.

Mr Ahsan criticised the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), saying that contrary to its contentions, the bill provided that the amendments made by the LFO were accepted by the MMA.

In response, MMA leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman said: “Today the PPP is criticising us but during the course of dialogue, there was a point where the government and the MMA were in contact on the basis of withdrawal of cases or release of someone. Then appeared a statement by Benazir Bhutto, that ‘If Musharraf accepts me as prime minister, I would accept him as president’”.

Makhdoom Amin Fahim of the PPPP said the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy would always oppose the LFO. “If the LFO is insisted to be part of the constitution, it would shatter the roots of this country,” he said.

Qazi Hussain Ahmad of the MMA said the bill introduced in the assembly was not in accordance with the agreement signed by the government and the MMA. “We want amendments to the constitution, not to the LFO. It appears that the government wants to make the LFO a part of the constitution with this bill,” he said.

Chaudhary Nisar Ali Khan of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz said amending the constitution had been made a joke in Pakistan, and sarcastically asked the government to add a proviso to the constitution that ‘Might is right’. Mr Khan said getting the bill passed would mean taking Pakistan back to 1985.

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