Islamabad – Staff Reporter:
As the rifts between the two major opposition parties deepened, the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) on Monday issued a show-cause notice to Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Awami National Party (ANP).
PDM Secretary-General and former premier Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said that by issuing show-cause notices, PDM has sought clarification from both parties over the recent issue of taking votes from the government-aligned Balochistan Awami Party (BAP).
The government-aligned party is considered to be a brainchild of the security establishment which the PDM blames for the current political morass.
On April 3, it was reported that five opposition parties, including the PML-N, agreed to form a separate bloc of 27 opposition senators in the upper house of parliament.
Gilani was notified as Senate opposition leader after some smaller opposition parties – including ANP, Jamaat-e-Islami and the BAP – threw their weight behind him.
Prior to the Upper House meeting, a meeting of independent opposition parties was held in the opposition leader’s chamber in the National Assembly under the chairmanship of Senator Azam Nazir Tarar.
Senators from PML-N, JUI, PK Map, National Party and BNP-Mengal had attended.
Apart from Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Mushahid Hussain Syed, Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, Tahir Bizenjo, Musaddiq Malik, Kamran Murtaza, Maulana Atta-ur-Rehman and others participated.
Chairman Senate Sadiq Sanjarani also attended the meeting and called on the Senators of opposition parties.
On the other hand, another meeting was held in the chamber of the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate under the chairmanship of Yousuf Raza Gilani in which the proceedings of the meeting were discussed.
PPP’s reacts to show-cause notice
Former premier Gilani said that the PDM had issued show-cause notices to the PPP, but the party had not given a response yet, but would comment on it later.
Later, during the Senate session, Gilani said that the Senate is a very important house of the Parliament.
“Under the 1973 constitution, this house was formed to end the sense of deprivation in small provinces. If this sense of deprivation had been eradicated first, the fall of Dhaka would not have happened,” he said.
He added that he did not know how difficult it was to contest the elections as a senator as he had been contesting for NA before.
“I contested the Senate election with the help of PDM. It is very difficult to become a senator,” he said. “Our aim is to give relief to the people, we have come for the public interest, it is our duty to represent the people, and the difference of opinion is part of democracy.”
He added that the opposition has to work together and if the government has difficulty then will become their voice as well.
