“Legal complexities are involved in the matter which I feel must be resolved as per rules, law and the Constitution,” the chairman announced in a ruling to calm down PML-N’s Ishaq Dar – who was the other candidate vying for the opposition leader’s office – and his supporters who have been boycotting the budget debate in protest against the appointment of Maulana Haideri.
ISLAMABAD: In a significant development, Senate Chairman Farooq H. Naek agreed on Wednesday to review his decision of appointing JUI-F’s Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri as opposition leader in the upper house of parliament and proposed to the warring sides to sit with legal experts to resolve the row.
“Legal complexities are involved in the matter which I feel must be resolved as per rules, law and the Constitution,” the chairman announced in a ruling to calm down PML-N’s Ishaq Dar – who was the other candidate vying for the opposition leader’s office – and his supporters who have been boycotting the budget debate in protest against the appointment of Maulana Haideri.
The protesting senators agreed to the chairman’s proposal, but refused to end their boycott of the session and staged a walkout.
In his ruling, the chairman said that “suggestions have come yesterday (Tuesday) that the legal experts be heard and the issue be determined after hearing the legal experts in the house. In my view these proceedings will have a very long and historical impact on the future parliamentary traditions and practices in Pakistan.
“In keeping everything in mind, I have decided in the interest of justice, equity and fair play to hear the legal experts in the matter”, he said, inviting both Mr Dar and Maulana Haideri to meet him in his chamber after the session to decide amicably how and when the discussion with experts should take place. He also asked the two groups to suggest names of lawyers who in their opinion should be heard on the issue.
Soon after the adjournment of the session till Thursday, both Maulana Haideri and Mr Dar met the chairman in his office. Leader of the House Nayyar Bokhari of the Pakistan People’s Party also attended the meeting.
Mr Dar told Dawn after the meeting that the chairman had suggested a few lawyers, who are also members of the house, to give arguments on the issue. He said they had no objection on those names.
Secondly, Mr Dar said, the chairman had proposed to fix three days for the discussion – from June 15 to 17.
He said the chairman had requested them to end the boycott of the budget debate and the standing committee on finance.
Mr Dar said he told the chairman that he would give a reply to his suggestions on Thursday, after having a meeting with his supporters.
Except for the JUI-F, members belonging to all other opposition parties have been protesting for the past three days over the chairman’s decision of appointing Maulana Haideri as opposition leader against Mr Dar. They have criticised Mr Naek’s logic of not counting the votes of nine dissidents of the Pakistan Muslim League-Q.
The row has severely hit the budget debate as members spent most of the time in discussing the legal and technical aspects of the chairman’s decision.
The JUI-F – the largest opposition parliamentary group with 10 senators – had submitted an application with signatures of 11 members supporting Maulana Haideri.
Mr Dar of the PML-N had submitted a similar application with the signatures of 24 senators belonging to the two splinter groups of the PML-Q, PML-N, PPP-Sherpao, Jamaat-i-Islami, National Party and Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party.
The JUI-F then quietly manoeuvred and submitted a new application that also carried signatures of five independent senators from Fata and two from Balochistan supporting Maulana Haideri.
The Senate chairman excluded the votes of nine PML-Q dissidents, who had opted to sit on opposition benches despite the party leadership’s decision to join the PPP-led ruling coalition, and supported Mr Dar as the opposition leader.
Mr Dar challenged Maulana Haideri’s new votes of independent senators. He said these members had been sitting on the treasury benches for the past three years and therefore could not support any one for the office of the opposition leader.