Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Opposition lawmakers on Tuesday demanded the government clarify its position over the diplomatic standoff between Qatar and several Arab countries.

Speaking on the floor of the National Assembly, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi urged the government to clarify its position over the issue after six countries cut off diplomatic ties with Qatar on charges of supporting extremist groups.

“Developments in Qatar are a crisis in the making. We want to know our position on the issue. Where do we stand? The government and the Foreign Office should explain,” he said.

He said since the issue would have great implications for the region, so the government and Foreign Office should have come to the House to clarify their position. “Pakistan has deep relations with Qatar and is importing Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) from them to help overcome energy problems. However, we do not know how this recent development will affect our future relations with Qatar,” he said.

“Earlier, this House had suggested a proper way on the issue of Yemen through collective wisdom. Being an important member of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), there is a need to come up with another solution now,” he said.

He said that Pakistan had strategic relations with Saudi Arabia. “Iran is our neighbour that shares a vast border with us. Currently, the situation is not conducive at borders with Afghanistan and at the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir,” he said.

Talking about the budget, he said that government members had presented their views about the budget. “However, the viewpoint of the opposition is missing, making the whole exercise meaningless,” he said.

Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Khursheed Shah feared that if the situation in the Middle East worsened, it would have repercussions for Pakistan. “The Muslim world has been facing unrest. Can’t Pakistan summon an emergency session of the OIC?” he asked.

Qureshi also criticised the ruling party and said that instead of the budget, the entire nation was discussing a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) probing the Sharif family and how a photo of the prime minister’s son, Hussain Nawaz, had been leaked to the media.

Meanwhile, the opposition continued its protest to demand live coverage of speeches of opposition members on state-run television channel. Opposition parties, including Jamaat-e-Islami, Awami National Party (ANP) and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement asked the government and opposition to resolve the issue so that members of the opposition could also talk on the budget and other issues facing the country.

Sahibzada Tariqullah of JI said that the government could have resolved the matter, if it had wanted to. “However, the government remains adamant,” he said.

MQM’s Shaikh Salahuddin asked the speaker to play his role in resolving the issue. ANP’s Ghulam Bilour asked both government and the opposition to overcome their differences.

Khurshid Shah announced to stage a walkout from the House over the issue. At this, the entire opposition walked out from the floor of the National Assembly.

Minister for Defence Production Rana Tanvir Hussain urged the opposition to participate in the budget discussion, assuring their genuine proposals would be accommodated in the finance bill.