The tranquillity that marked the day on the floor was in fact thanks to the appointment of PPPP's Raza Rabbani as leader of the opposition-something that was due for about two years, but when it finally came it gladdened many hearts.
At the very outset Chairman Soomro announced that the "chair has recognised Mr. Raza Rabbani as the leader of the opposition". There was loud thumping of desks by both sides of the aisle, followed by brief statements by members. Describing Rabbani's recognition as leader of opposition, the Leader of the House Wasim Sajjad said he is a person of high integrity and an excellent parliamentarian. To Khalid Ranjha his selection was "one of the best choices.
Supporting the appointment of his "good friend and comrade", Mushahid Hussain Syed said the role of the opposition is pivotal to the success of democracy, and there is the dire need to change the mindset that opposition is an anti-state phenomenon. Kamil Ali Agha defined Raza Rabbani as an enlightened person, as Professor Khursheed Ahmad assured the newly appointed leader of opposition his complete cooperation. "True, the ARD and MMA had differing perceptions as to who should be the leader of opposition in the senate but now that he is appointed to that office we assure him our full cooperation." Others who spoke to eulogise various aspects of Raza Rabbani's life and work included Sajjad Mir, S M Zafar, Anwer Bhinder, Khalilur Rehman, Maulana Gul Naseeb, Muhammad Ali Durrani, Anisa Zeb and Babar Ghauri.
Many others too wanted to join these speakers, but Raza Rabbani, perhaps, detected that the treasury benches might as well be interested in relegating the more pressing issues like Balochistan imbroglio by keeping the house busy with the laudatory statements. The Chair noticed his impatience with these statements and invited Raza Rabbani to respond, which he did in a brisk. He said his appointment has come at a crucial time when the "federation is under unprecedented pressure. We would like to discuss and debate the Balochistan situation, which is a political issue and no army operation can resolve it...History tells us that wherever power was employed things failed and provoked serious backlash."
Raza Rabbani reiterated the opposition's stated position-that it would not relent in its struggle to undo the 17th amendment and that holding both the offices of the president and the army chief by Pervez Musharraf is unconstitutional. "The present crisis of the state is in fact the crisis of confidence", he said. To this Professor Khursheed Ahmad, on a point of order, added that by violating the "social contract" made to the MMA, President Musharraf has torn apart the legitimacy of his position. "Today he is not a de-jure president." and this has also taken away the legitimacy of the 17th Constitutional amendment. "We will keep protesting, inside and outside the parliament, until the country is free of military hegemony."
The party meetings of both the sides preceded the proceedings of the senate. The opposition decided to persevere in its protest and the government stood its ground, on which Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz briefed reporters in a press conference in his chamber. His pre-condition was that the questions should be short and to the point, but his answers were also too short, if not cryptic, disappointing many who thought the PM would like to give the full picture to the nation at this point of time when rumours abound. To a number of questions on Balochistan his reply was the same" that dialogue is on, we should hope for the better. He also stoutly defended the raise in the prices of various petroleum products.
What an irony of Pakistani politics that the gossip in the corridors of the parliament hum more vigorously than what one learns watching the house in session. This evening, even before the senate proceedings opened, there was a talk of interim set-up taking over from the present incumbents in the near future. According to one version of this take-over, which would usher in a national government, Mushahid Hussain would be in the lead role and his team would include representatives from the ruling coalition and the PPP, both old and new. Only the Jamaat-e-Islami and the PML (N) would stay out, say the proponents of this version, explaining further that it would be followed by general elections by the end of the year. As the session progresses one would learn more about this.