By Asim Hussain
ISLAMABAD: PML-N senior leader Khawaja Saad Rafique on Thursday demanded strict action against those opposition parties’ members who skipped voting at the Parliament joint sitting which enabled the government to get multiple bills approved.
All the opposition parties, including the PML-N, would have to take serious notice of the missing National Assembly and Senate members at the time of voting, Saad said in a tweet. The members absent without a solid reason must face disciplinary action, he added.
He noted that the opposition extended full cooperation to the government on the FATF (Financial Action Task Force), but the proposed sections/ amendments were opposed on the basis of mala fide intentions, repression and injustice.
“The government has been lying from day one. Its attitude is insulting and cruel,†the senior politician said.
Saad made this demand came as the PTI government on Wednesday managed to pass three crucial FATF-related laws in a joint session of the Parliament despite the fact the opposition enjoyed numerical strength.
The government opted for the joint session after the Senate had rejected these bills earlier passed by the National Assembly. Before Wednesday’s session, JUI-F leader Senator Abdul Ghafoor Haideri had expressed the hope that the two main opposition parties – PML-N and PPP – would not act as a facilitator of the government in getting the FATF-related legislation sail through the Parliament.
Haideri told media persons the bill was a big test for the two parties. “APC is to be held in coming few days. [We] would have to see what these opposition parties do,†he remarked. Haideri warned that the nature of the APC could change if the PPP and the PML-N supported the government on the bill.
He said the smaller opposition parties have decided to oppose the bill [at the joint sitting] like they had done in the past. The JUI-F leader also noted that the government did not inform them about the joint session.
He said the country practically didn’t have any government and the President’s House had been turned into an “ordinance factory†.
