Daily Times

Opposition senators on Wednesday claimed that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government has totally failed to provide relief to the general public as not even a single commitment made by Prime Minister Imran Khan with the people was honoured.

“One-sided accountability, rather political victimisation, is going on while cases against government ministers or leaders are kept under the carpet. Parliament is not being given any importance and the whole government is being run through ordinances,” the opposition senators said while speaking over a motion to discuss recent wave of alleged political victimisation and denial of fundamental rights to members of the opposition parties.

Usman Kakar of Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party said media, Election Commission of Pakistan, price hike and mismanagement are on top in failures of the current government. JI Senator Mushtaq Ahmad said all PTI commitments were totally based on lies because not even a single has been fulfilled. “Today, everyone including lawyers, traders and politicians are on strike against the government,” he said.

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Sherry Rehman slammed the government, telling the House that political stability in the country cannot be achieved by throwing political rivals in prison. “You can’t have political stability by locking the parliament,” she said. “This government has lost its respect by taking revenge from opponents,” she said. “This is the voice of the people … we should have taken out containers long ago,” she added.

The PPP senator said that the government is arresting political opponents without even conducting a trial or filing a reference against them. “This one-sided accountability is making a mockery of the government,” she said.

However, PTI Senator Faisal Javed claimed that all international agencies are of the opinion that Pakistan’s economy is back on the track. He said that PTI did not make even a single case against any political leader, adding that all of these cases were made in the tenures of previous government. PPP leader Mian Raza Rabbani was of the view that his party is not against accountability but there should be one law for all. He admitted that both PPP and PML-N were on wrong as they could not change the NAB laws. He claimed that accountability is essential for a state but there should be no sacred cow.

During the speeches of Federal Minister for Communication Murad Saeed and JUI-F leader Maulana Abdul Ghafor Haidri, the Upper House turned into a fish market. The PPP senators raised the slogan of ‘Go Imran Go’, ‘Go Niazi Go’. No one was ready to follow the orders of Chairman Senate Sadiq Sanjrani who tried his best to calm the situation. Haidri told the House that JUI-F does not need Prime Minister Imran Khan’s assistance for participants of the Azadi March and instead demanded PM’s resignation. He also demanded that the government stop political victimisation of just one family.