ISLAMABAD: The opposition as well as members of the ruling coalition criticised the government on Monday for not presenting the national security policy before the Senate, which was placed before the National Assembly last week.
Speaking on points of order after suspension of the normal business of the house due to the terrorist attack on Islamabad district courts, the members also vented their anger over the continued absence of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif from the Senate.
They alleged that the government was ignoring the upper house which represented the federation.
Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed of the Pakistan Muslim League-Q regretted that Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan presented the much-awaited national security policy in the National Assembly five days ago, but the document had not been shared with senators yet.
The PML-Q senator, who heads the Senate Standing Committee on Defence, said the interior minister had assured him that the policy document would be shared with all lawmakers, but so far the members of the Senate had not been provided its copies.
Urging the prime minister and the interior minister to end their boycott of the house, he asked the government to show some commitment and protect the life and property of people.
He warned that the present security situation could not only destabilise the PML-N government, it could also be detrimental to the democratic set-up, since people wanted peace in the country at all costs.
Despite sitting on treasury benches, Hafiz Hamdullah of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F) also lashed out at the government for keeping some part of the national security policy secret.
The JUI-F senator said the minister while presenting the national security policy in the National Assembly had announced that the first part of the policy was secret.
He questioned how the parliament could debate on a policy which had been kept secret. He alleged that it seemed that the government was either itself committing terrorism or patronising terrorists.
Before adjourning the session for Tuesday, Chairman Nayyar Bokhari directed the government to present the policy before the house.
“Why the house is being ignored by not presenting the national security policy? If the report has been presented in the National Assembly it should have been brought here. I would ask treasury benches to present the report,” ruled the chairman.