ISI is ruling in the country, says Nisar (Leader of Pakistani opposition-PMLN)

[ejazr]

http://www.onlinenews.com.pk/details.php?id=177693

ISLAMABAD: It seems that today still Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) is ruling in the country while Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani should make it clear that under which mandate Director General (DG) ISI has gone to United States (U.S.), said Leader of the Opposition at National Assembly Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan.

While expressing his views on Point of Order during the NA session here on Wednesday, the Leader of the Opposition said that parliament is the supreme institution in the country, we respect it but the present PPP-led coalition government has discredited and damaged the due role of Parliament. It is the ever worst record that ministers don't attend sessions; however, if they come they don't sit seriously in the House. But the way, in which the Speaker and Deputy Speaker are running affairs of the House, it is appreciable.

If questions are asked to the respective ministers, then it is the responsibility of hem to inform the House and people appropriately. At present, the country has been facing severe crises but unfortunately the government is not doing anything that how to cope with the current crises. It is responsibility of the opposition to highlight the week areas of the government, now it is the obligation of the government to recover these areas, said Nisar Ali Khan.

Nisar Ali Khan said that government should make its honest and sincere effort to stop drone strikes by U.S., as the House members through a unanimous resolution said that drone attacks should be stopped immediately but still attacks are continuing.

By criticizing over the government, Mr. Nisar maintained that government is targeting a Media Group to take its revenge and want to suppress the voice of Media. This Media Group has always played significant role in the best interest of the country. Mr. Nisar added that we want immediate solution of this issue.

 

[ejazr]

Intresting talk show with Najam Sethi on this topic.
http://www.pakdiscussion.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=101&t=17954

Points exposed include

Imran Khan is being fully supported by the ISI/Army
ISI/Army arranged private meetings with Imran Khan and Musharraf and Imran Khan and Altaf Hussain in UK to have an understanding.
Ch. Nisar openly charged ISI involvement in country affairs accusing of its involvement in Kargil and Raymond David affair
Ch. Nisar and PML-N politicans have basically given an ultimatum that if ISI will continue interfering in politics then it will launch agitation to expose ISI/Army

 

[A.V.]

Just a instant reaction to the thread title :- Dont we know that since ages , why did it take so long for the moderate pakistanis to realize this .

let me go through the full article now

 

[thakur_ritesh]

these are very interesting times in pakistan, the little i gather:

• attempt on part of isi/pa is to get rid of ppp in center and pml-n in punjab, both the parties are cornered and the focus on their part is to make sure some how the two dont get toppled and for the moment pml-n is more on the back foot so they are more vocal and critical of the isi though ironically for the moment they are not taking the pa head on but just the isi.

• isi/pa are supporting IK, and looking to form a technocratic govt with the support of mqm. they are trying to do this through constitutional means, so most likely mqm will pull off the support soon enough which will mean the ppp govt falls and the president will be then forced to do as the army wants and there will be caretaker govt formed for the next 18odd months or less.

• what IK doesnt realize is, pa/isi dont like independent thinkers, today he will be used/misused, made a hero and tomorrow he will end up just as benazir and nawaz.

• the SC, which has a CJ who is close to nawaz sharif, has stepped in and asked to army to not interfere in the internal matters of the state which be left on the courts, rather they concentrate on external threats.

• pml-n which for the moment seems to be losing out the most has come out openly and has opened the front through ch. nisar ali khan.

• in this for the moment musharraf is running around like a headless chicken. he and IK had a meeting as arranged by the pa/isi but with CJ of the SC not going to take it lying down who has a personal grudge and is also close to nawaz, will ruin all his attempts to return so off late mush has tried to approach nawaz, who for mush not so long back was supposed to be a man without any brains. attempt is to cool down the CJ, through nawaz and certainly nawaz through other people (and this is possible since pml was formed courtesy pa/isi and if something comes on offer then form a alliance with nawaz because if the equations were to change on ground and pa/isi were to hold free and fair elections, in all likely hood pml-n will form the next govt in the center so mush dreams of being the president, but i dont see that happening, since PM then would be shabaz and president nawaz, and for this ppp will support pml-n since there will be a pay back time for them thogh not before they extract their pound of flesh.

• in all this what will be interesting to note will be, if the govt is made to fall, both central and punjab, what will be the role of SC, since it is expected iftekar ch. will play his part and if that was to be again scuttled by the army will ppp and pml-n take to streets? if yes, then pakistan is heading for more troubled times.

 

[Oracle]

ISI is ruling the county? Not quite right. Every action and reaction in Pakistan has to be blessed by the General of the PA. But who would dare say that?

 

[ejazr]

Just a instant reaction to the thread title :- Dont we know that since ages , why did it take so long for the moderate pakistanis to realize this .

let me go through the full article now

Well, its the first time a statement like this has been made by the leader of the opposition IN Parliament. I think this is a big step where the politicians are feeling bold enough to take on the Army/ISI publicly.

Granted that the PML-N is probably fighting a life and death scenario here politically speaking and probably one of the reasons for the outburst. But still its a big step if the trend continues.

 

[thakur_ritesh]

Ejazr,

these are amazingly interesting times in pakistan and as you put it, unprecedented.

interestingly there are three main power brokers, ppp, pml-n and CJ IC, who feel most threatened and all have gathered guts to take on the traditional power house, the isi and the army and it seems this time the attempt is not to go out without a fight and possibly this fight of rhetoric that we are getting accustomed to off late might end up in the streets all too bloody for everyone involved.

as najam sethi says, zardari has already played the sindh card, and is busy maligning the army internationally on their terror links to seek international support and in this the pml-n is busy doing the same in punjab where they have an ever growing support base and if these two were to ask their supports to make way for the streets, then i suspect post benazir assassination riots might seem minuscule and as pointed out by nazam with ppp becoming the third militant force in karachi, in all likely hood even karachi which accounts for a near 70% of pakistan's gdp is not going to sleep easy but before all this were to take shape it will be of interest to see what role will their CJ play since even he would not just want to end up being a mere spectator who then ends up becoming a puppet at the hands of the pa yet again.

it seems the threat to isi/pa this time is clear, if they try any of their "out of the box" solutions (as most pakistanis would put it), then they and pakistan alike are headed for times unlike witnessed in the past and if it is so, for the first time after musharraf of 1999, there will be some extremely nervous generals/admirals/marshals.

 

[ejazr]

Nisar lashes out against the intelligence establishment once again. I think within a year or two, the political divides will be seen on the streets if this is not sorted out. PML-N has a large power base in north Punjab so I doubt it that it will lose its electorate very easily.

Its ironic because PML-N was also a creation of the ISI to counter PPP.

Agencies involved in political parties' alliance: Nisar

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, setting aside the concerns of the Leader of the Opposition Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan that the agencies' people were approaching his party MPs, said that he was ready to sit with the opposition leader to address the issue, if any.

He was responding to Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan's speech in the National Assembly in which he alleged that the agencies' had reverted to their previous role and were approaching his party MPs. He said he was ready to furnish all evidence to the prime minister about what games they were playing, to whom the funds were being given and those being contacted for a political alliance. "They do not get funds for such activities," he said.

The opposition leader also made a dig at the government's move for a political alliance with the PML-Q, saying "Those who until recently used to label each other as murderers are now joining hands in the name of national government."

He warned that if the government failed to resolve the problems of the people, then the opposition will have no option to but lodge a protest not only in the National Assembly but also in the streets. He said he was not satisfied with the prime minister's reply regarding the mandate of DG ISI for his meetings in Washington.

In his response, the prime minister said that Pakistan and the United States have cooperation in different fields, including defence, intelligence, economic and other fields for the last 60 years and there was also a strategic partnership dialogue based on mutual trust and mutual interest.

He said contacts between the two countries were a continuing process and if the opposition leader had any specific concern regarding the visit of DG ISI to Washington, he was ready to address that concern. "Following the visit of DG ISI, defence secretary and foreign secretary will also visit Washington in the near future," he told the House.

Prime Minster Gilani said the government was not running the House in a non-serious manner and wanted to strengthen its role and was ready to implement recommendations of the opposition for this purpose. He apologised for the absence of some ministers during the Question Hour.

On his recent visit to Kabul, he said the chief of the Army staff accompanied him during his Afghanistan visit and this visit helped in eliminating the trust deficit and misunderstandings between the two countries.

He said Pakistan would fully support any Afghan-led initiative to bring peace in the region. "Pakistan supports a political solution as we believe that a stable, peaceful and prosperous Afghanistan is in the interest of Pakistan,' he added.

The prime minister expressed his government's willingness to sit with the opposition in an effort to find a solution to the grave national problems. "When the PML-N presented a 10-point national agenda, we accepted it and held extensive meetings to implement the agenda," he added.

Referring to the 'agencies-sponsored' sit-in against the drone attacks, he said the House is very powerful and the members should not feel threatened. "Each member of this House has come through the votes of the people and he should not feel threatened by 'Dharnas', sponsored or otherwise," he remarked.

Regarding negotiations between the PPP and PML-Q, the prime minister said alliances between different parties who enjoyed people's mandate were not against the principles. Earlier, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said his party was not against the establishment of new provinces but it should be done in a constitutional way. He said Shahbaz Sharif's statement in this regard was misinterpreted.

He said PML-N had never made any effort to destabilise the government. The opposition leader come down hard on those criticised the Punjab chief minister for holding meetings with the Army chief and said that when the meeting took place, he told the House that no political issue was discussed. "Our stance is clear that there is no role for the Army in political affairs," he said. Chaudhry Nisar said 'test-tube politicians' were usurping the right of parliament through 'sponsored sit-in'.

He criticised the recent increase in the prices of petroleum products and said instead of providing relief to the people, the government was burdening them with Rs163 billion additional taxes. He said the people are facing grave problems and the government should address them urgently.

Prior to the address of the opposition leader, PML-N legislator Khawaja Saad Rafiq clarified that the statement of the Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif about making Karachi a province was misinterpreted. "The PML-N supports creation of smaller provinces but not on ethnic and linguistic basis". He said there was a constitutional procedure for this purpose and the PML-N believes that a formula should be devised for creation of more provinces, if they are needed, but nobody should be allowed to play politics on the issue of new provinces. Criticising the attack on the PML-N offices in Karachi, he said the matter should be investigated.

Minister for Water and Power Syed Naveed Qamar said the PPP was pursuing the policy of reconciliation and did not believe in political victimisation. Replying to the point raised by Khawaja Saad Rafiq, he said every party had the right to open its office in any part of the country. "No one has any right to harass the office bearers of any party," he added.