President Asif Ali Zardar still trying to push NRO through parliament
By guestwriter at 4 November, 2009, 1:44 pm
By Kamran Khan. KARACHI: Notwithstanding the past midnight announcement of a presidential retreat on the NRO, President Asif Ali Zardari still wants Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani
to redouble his efforts to win parliamentary support for its passage, according to several political and official sources with direct knowledge of deliberations at the Presidency late on Monday night.
“President Zardari only agreed to defer the decision to table the NRO in the National Assembly so that the PPP might get its act together with other coalition partners on this issue,” according to a participant of the meeting.
The prime minister and other coalition partners who met the president had desired that he should forget the NRO in the best interest of democracy, but their plea met a strong resistance from the president.
Other sources confirming this account said that during late night meeting on Monday President Zardari was visibly restless and extremely disturbed over rapid developments on Monday that saw the MQM publicly revolting against him on NRO issue; PML-F leader Pir Pagara firming up his opposition and a majority of Fata members making an unprecedented declaration of not subscribing to President Zardari on this contentious issue.
“President Zardari, in presence of other participants, told Prime Minister Gilani that he didn’t come to his expectations of managing the coalition partners for a speedy passage of the NRO through the National Assembly,” another participant said.
Unimpressed by the president’s views that efforts can still be made to galvanize support for NRO, Prime Minister Gilani stood his ground on NRO by declaring on the floor of the National Assembly, second time in 24 hours, on Tuesday that he was not interested in tabling the NRO in the National Assembly and desired across the board political harmony to meet serious challenges facing the country.
Disturbed with the premier’s inability to harness enough political support for the passage of the NRO, President Zardari is launching last-ditch efforts to convince political allies and members of the Parliament from Fata to vote for the NRO before the deadline for its approval from the Parliament expires on November 30.
In fresh moves Zardari will meet a key MQM leader on Wednesday, while his trusted aide and Interior Minister Rehman Malik will fly overseas this week for another attempt to push for an MQM retreat on the NRO.
Separately, Zardari has renewed contact, through an intermediary, with Pir Pagara and have requested Maulana Fazlur Rahman to approach Fata members who appeared to be on warpath with him.
Moves were afoot Tuesday to figure out how many PML-Q parliamentarians, earlier cultivated by Governor Punjab Salman Taseer would be prepared to vote for the NRO. A well placed official also disclosed that consultations were made to explore legal avenues to introduce content in the NRO through a new bill so that identification of NRO with former President Musharraf might be neutralized.
Presidency, informed sources said, is desperate for the NRO passage to avoid a scenario under which at least five corruption cases against President Zardari would stand revived once it failed to earn parliamentary approval before the end of this month.
“If these corruption cases are revived against the president, the Supreme Court would examine the validity of immunity available to the president under the constitution, “according to Munir A Malik, former president of the Supreme Court Bar association. “Most importantly this would invoke the articles of the constitution that deals with the qualification of the President of Pakistan, “ Munir Malik opined.
Related posts:
- President withdraws Mobile Courts Ordinance
- PM Gillani calls on President Zardari – Daily Jang
- President Asif Ali Zardari to take an aggressive stance in the post NRO situation
Good on you my leaders and members of the Parliament. You seemed to have established a chance to get your dirty sinful bodies to take a bath in the Holy Water of NRO and become so called Saints.
We can not stop you for allowing all the corrupt people to get away with murders, frauds, money laundering, crimes against the state, and you name it. Its your government, its your time and its our fault that we have voted for you in a hope that you will bring justice, equality, well being of a common man, up holding of law, education for the poor, equal opportunities for the “have nots”, better living conditions for women, more and equal employment chances for every one, a hope to be the best Nation in the world ……. and what have you given us in actual in return of our non -conditional faith in all of you? We got death and destruction in the name of war against terror, we got poor economy resulting in inflation and lack of opportunities for common man in all fields, our industrial sector on the verge of collapsing, we saw the biggest brain drain in the history of Pakistan where all the patriots in various fields including Science and Technology were forced by the circumstances to leave Pakistan as now their honor and dignity was being compromised and they were not even sure whether they will live to see the next day along with their families, my leaders you have given us a sense of urgency and turmoil with us all thinking whether Pakistan will survive under your selfish rule, we fear to send our kids to school to study as you can not guarantee their safety, we dont invest in Pakistan cause we fear that some Wolves will come forward and ask for their undue share in our business, Women are being humiliated and tortured still despite promises of bright and secure future for them.
All you did was to establish a strong footing to get NRO established with the Parliament’s blessings cause you wanted to save your skin. If this is the case, why dont you open the gates of every Jail in Pakistan and let go the convicted murderers, Thieves, Frauds, Rapists, assassins, people who worked against the state so that they should also feel the liberty to become free citizens of Pakistan. As of today, we the common people in Pakistan, have come to know that this country is not worth living for people who live by the religion and State Law, who want to contribute in the prosperity of this country in all fields, who are sincere in all respects. We are adding a black chapter in our history of this Nation by letting go the convicts and ensuring that these scoundrels enjoy rest of their lives as they are now allowed to use the looted money, send it across the world in their special accounts in special banks, no body could point a finger at them in any manner. Truly amazing leaders we have got, they must have been ashamed or at least some of them would be ashamed and hated their very existence to decide not to bring NRO removal/cancellation discussion in the assembly.
Above will be opposed by a lot of readers in this blog as every one has a right to save interest of their party leaders, but if we will not let our voice heard to discourage this insanity, we will be doomed well before we were supposed to. America! Welcome to Pakistan, if the price is right our leaders will sell each and every inch of Pakistan provided you give them a free passage to flee this country of ours with 40 suitcases for each of the so called leaders, this is a unsung song by our leaders and they have proved so far that they are self centered and money maniacs. In their books, there is no such thing as loyalty, honesty, patriotism and straight forwardness, all they want is a free approach to loot our assets.
I wonder at some day I will be forced to work in an organization in the west cause my leaders would sell my services and receive payment against it, nothing is unexpected from them.
Let us all let our voice be heard at any cost and we either decide to live as Bold and Honest Nation rather than trying to find out the ways to have such opportunities which our leaders are already having through NRO. We are honest cause a real opportunity never knocked at our door to test our moral and integrity but still there is no point in letting these convicts go, they are not the Untouchables, they will certainly become ones if we maintain our silence, its a western saying “If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem for sure”
Its all pre-planned and players are acting on the lines written by the Lords in the West and our voices will be made silent by a Sugar or wheat shortage, sudden tax rate increases, terror attacks on common people, inflation etc so that we forget every thing and start fighting for food and shelter for our families and focus on personal well being and survival. Its an old game which is being played by our leaders and we are used as perishable play stuff to guard their own negative interests.
Well we started it by selecting them, and now its our responsibility to ensure they behave the way they should have been, an effort on individual level and then a collaborative effort is needed as Nation to destroy the plans of these unfaithful and corrupt leaders no matter which political party or which religious sect they represent, time for them to behave or leave Pakistan and let us handle our problems our selves as we are at a stage now that when people would say certainly “My Lords, Enough is Enough already”.
Are we waiting for an earth quake or an epidemic disease from Heaven to wipe out these criminals? I guess not time for us to stand up, face the truth and reality and do the needful.