ISLAMABAD: The joint opposition in the parliament on Thursday decided to boycott the in-camera briefing of the Parliamentary National Security Committee (PNSC) convened by the incumbent government on December 6, citing the government’s “dictatorial” behaviour as its reason.
A joint statement by Parliament’s united Opposition stated that the parities had always shown a responsible and serious attitude on all issues of the constitution, law, national security, and public importance, which is why – despite the absence of the leader of the house from important national issues – the opposition parties fully participated in these briefings.
The statement highlighted that due to the current government’s attitude of ‘bulldozing’ important bills, as well as its ‘persistently authoritarian and mediocre approach’ to important constitutional, legal, national and security issues, the opposition has decided to boycott the in-camera briefing.
The united opposition stated that it contains parties that have a “mature vision, extensive experience and seriousness on critical issues” related to the constitution, the country and the populace.
“In the past too, the opposition parties have always played a historic role in protecting, guarding and promoting the rights and interests of the country and the people,” they maintained.
They added that even in the current “contentious” era, the opposition has given priority to the interests of Pakistan and the people. It has played its role in keeping all kinds of political sub-interests and affiliations at bay.
They emphasised that it was unfortunate that the current government was adopting the policy of using parliament as a “rubber stamp”. Rather the parliament has constantly been ignored and matters are being held through “in-camera briefings”, the joint opposition lamented.
The opposition lampooned that the “selected” Prime Minister Imran Khan did not attend meetings on important national issues, including the one on the Indian Illegally-Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), because “not only was he ignorant of the democratic spirit of consultation”, but was also “unknowledgeable” about the importance of different views in decision making.
Earlier this week, National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser summoned an in-camera session of the parliamentary committee on national security to discuss the security situation in the region as well as the country on December 6.
