Aitzaz insisted that according to rules, Nawaz Sharif is the Leader of the House, and now the after apex court decision, it is crystal clear that the house is being run without any leader of the house. He noted that there would be debates and discussions on the judgement at different forums.
The opposition senators said in their hard-hitting speeches that three other judges of the Panama Leaks case bench have also ordered further probe against the Prime Minister by a joint investigation team which means Sharif is not given a clean chit. It was a rare scene in the house in recent years where the opposition senators kept demanding the Prime Minister's resignation through loud shouts, catcalls and desk thumping, paying no attention to repeated calls by Rabbani who kept saying, "Please resume your seats."
In a military style, Brigadier John William (Retd) kept shouting 'go Nawaz go' slogans with a long pause, which even forced the chairman Senate to tell the former brigadier 'not to make military calls in Senate hall.' However, the united opposition simply stole the show without even letting the treasury members to stand up to defend their Prime Minister.
This left the chairman Senate Rabbani to read out the prorogation order. After the business listed on the orders of the day was over, Leader of Opposition Senator Aitzaz Ahsan rose to point out that two senior most Supreme Court judges have declared Nawaz Sharif no more truthful and trustworthy while three others also did not disagree with the other two and called for more probe through a JIT.
Aitzaz noted that the judges have not written their notes in favour of Nawaz Sharif; therefore, he stood disqualified in the light of their judgement, as he could not produce evidence except two Qatari letters, which were rejected by the apex court. "It is the demand of combined opposition that the Prime Minister should tender resignation, as he failed to come up with sources of his income with which London properties were bought," he emphasised.
London properties, PTI Senator Muhammad Azam Swati claimed, belong to the people of Pakistan and not the Sharif family; as two senior judges called him no more truthful and trustworthy while three other judges of the bench called for further probe. He said PML-N leaders had distributed sweets to please the Sharif family. He asked Nawaz Sharif to step down to save the country's future, as he has played havoc with the state institutions to save his corruption.
"Mian Sahab is behind the every state entity, which stands ruined. How can there be fair probe by JIT, as all other bodies, except Military Intelligence, are under Nawaz Sharif," said Senator Saeed Ghani of PPPP. He feared Nawaz, being champion of this art, would manage and manipulates the JIT; therefore, he must step down till the time investigation is completed in 60 days. Ghani said Nawaz could put Pakistan's future at stake just to save his skin.
JI's Senator Sirajul Haq pointed out that two SC judges had declared in the judgement that under Articles 62 and 63, Nawaz was no more truthful and trustworthy. He wondered what would be the prestige and image of Pakistan when the PM would interact with the world leaders with a tainted image of corruption. He asked Nawaz to appoint someone else from the National Assembly as new premier.
Senator Nauman Wazir Khattak of PTI wondered what moral authority is left in Nawaz to stay as prime minister; rather he is a pseudo prime minister after the SC judgement. He also feared that Nawaz would manage to take a clean chit from JIT, if he continues as premier. He said that Nawaz, who has on his wrist a watch valuing Rs 46 million and having properties and assets abroad, would lead Pakistan to bleak future if he manages to get scot-free and the system continues this way.
Opposition senators, except MQM, stood up on their seats, chanted slogans, thumped desks and demanded Nawaz to go home, as the chair gave floor to PML-N Senator Muhammad Javed Abbasi, who could not speak despite Rabbani asked the senators to cool down and sit down again and again.
PML-N Senators Nihal Hashmi, Najma Hameed, Nuzhat Sadiq, Yaqub Nasir and Saud Majid rose to raise slogans for their leader and some of them also chanted 'go Imran go.' But they could not match the opposition's protest and complied with the chair's request to resume their seats.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2017