Friends and Foes Unite to Humiliate Government in Senate Over Violent Extremism Bill
The government was humiliated in Senate on Sunday as Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani dropped a bill designed to tackle the issue of “violent extremism” from the agenda after the senators from both sides of the aisles vehemently opposed the move.
With the government unable to muster any support to push the bill through the House amid strong and vocal opposition, Sanjrani said he was dropping the bill from the agenda even if the government didn’t want to do so as everyone had voiced concerns over it.
The remarks came as Sen Abdul Ghafoor Haideri – a top leader of JUI-F which is a key part of the ruling alliance – said his party opposed the bill. He added that everyone would fall prey to the draft legislation, with a warning that they could opt to stage a walkout if anyone tried to bulldoze the move.
Similarly, Sen Tahir Bizenjo of the National Party regretted that the PML-N had not been taking the smaller allied parties into confidence in the legislation process and said the two larger parties [PML-N and PPP] were making all the decisions.
He described the bill as an attack on democracy – a concern expressed by all those raising their voice against the bill.
On the other hand, Sen Mushtaq Ahmed of JI warned that the bill, if passed, would hit every political party while PTI’s Sen Humayun Mohmand claimed that the draft had been designed solely against his party. Imposing martial law if such laws were to be passed, he remarked and questioned why the elected members were even sitting in the parliament.