NA in-camera session on national security today

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif Thursday said the National Assembly would be given an in-camera briefing on national security matters on Friday (today).

Responding to a point raised by Ali Wazir from Waziristan, Shehbaz informed the House that during the in-camera briefing, parliamentarians would also be able to put their respective questions on the relevant subject.

He assured the MNA that all of his reservations would be listened to and responded positively to satisfy his concerns.

“This would be a healthy interaction. There would be no discussion to spoil the situation, rather it would be an attempt to rectify the matters,” the prime minister remarked. Speaking on the occasion, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said the military leadership would attend the National Assembly session and respond to the queries of the members. He said the military leadership was cognizant of the challenge posed by terrorism.

He voiced serious concerns over the surge in terrorism and demanded that terrorists’ facilitators settled in the civilian areas must be held accountable. Asif said terrorism increased after people from Afghanistan settled in Pakistan. “Terrorists have settled in the residential areas. Action should be taken against the people who have helped them settle,” he remarked.

“These people also have political support, as they are also present at the Zaman Park. They have the support of Imran Khan,” he said. The defence minister said the first Afghan war took place during the reign of General Zia, while the second war happened during the rule of General (retd) Musharraf after 9/11. He seconded Mohsin Dawar and Ali Wazir and said they were correctly saying that the people in those areas were suffering for the sins they did not commit.

Speaking on a point of order, Ali Wazir appealed to the government to stop the security forces’ operation in the tribal areas. He said another operation in the tribal areas had been discussed in the National Security Committee. “We have come to know that even the GHQ has not been taken into confidence and the generals who had retired should be dealt with first,’” he said. He said the people who spread mistrust had now come to the settled areas of the country. “When the Taliban came to Afghanistan, sweets were distributed in the country, as Pakistan had problems and differences with the past Afghan rulers,” he said.

Meanwhile, Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf has convened an in-camera meeting of the National Assembly on national security on Friday (today). All federal ministers, advisers and MNAs have been invited to attend the meeting.

A briefing will be given by the military authorities on the current national security situation. Notices have been issued by the National Assembly Secretariat. Secretaries interior, foreign affairs, finance, defence and information and broadcasting have been invited to attend the meeting.

The four provincial chief ministers, chief secretaries and IGPs have also been specially invited to attend the meeting.

Meanwhile, the House rejected a motion by majority vote to consider the motion concerning the Charged Sums for General Elections of the Provincial Assemblies of the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Bill, 2023. Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar presented the motion concerning the provision of funds, which was rejected by the House by majority vote. On behalf of chairman National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue, committee member Syed Hussain Tariq presented the report on the Charged Sums for General Election (Provincial Assemblies of the Punjab and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) Bill, 2023. The committee recommended against approving the bill.

Dar moved the motion to consider the bill but the House rejected it for further consideration, as the committee had recommended against approving it. Dar said legislation was the only way to allow the Finance Division to have an entry or transfer amount from the Federal Consolidated Fund, but the standing committee had recommended not to approve it.

Minister for Law Azam Nazeer Tarar said an overwhelming majority had rejected the motion and this bill shall be treated as rejected and there was no need of its clause by clause reading. Tarar said the Article 81 of the Constitution did not allow general expenditure from the Federal Consolidated Fund and thus legislation was necessary for allocation of fund for the specific purpose.

The National Assembly also passed the Tax Laws Second Amendment Bill 2022. The bill, moved by Minister for Finance Ishaq Dar, amends certain laws relating to taxes and duties.

The House also passed the Haj and Umrah Regulation Bill, 2022. The bills laid before the house included The Constitution Amendment Bill, 2023, The Protection of Family Life and Wedlock Bill, 2023, and The National Council for Minorities Rights Bill, 2023. The chair referred the bills to the standing committees concerned. Responding to a calling attention notice of PPP legislator Abdul Qadir Mandokhel, Minister of State for Finance Aisha Ghous Pasha said concrete steps were being taken to check smuggling through the Afghanistan border.

Mandokhel raised the issue of smuggling of Indian Chalia, Gutka, Mawa and other harmful substances through the Afghan border. Aisha said the customs office established at the Pak-Afghan international border did not allow any item to enter without documentation.

She was confident that an improvement would soon be visible in this regard. Sources said the National Security Committee meeting of the parliament that has been convened by the Speaker National Assembly Raja Pervaiz Ashraf would become the starting point for an operation against terrorists in various parts of the country. The National Security Committee of the Cabinet that had its meeting early this month, sanctioned the operation. The operation would be carried out with the active involvement of civil armed forces (CAF), police and other agencies. It would be spearheaded by the army, which will have the support of PAF on required basis.

It will be the first occasion when the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Syed Asim Munir would be available to the members of the National Assembly and they will be together under one roof.

Highly-placed sources told The News that all MNAs without exception would be attending the briefing including Ali Wazir who is a Pashtoon nationalist leader and spent more than two years in the Karachi prison on account of a speech.

Members from the same areas and from the JUI, who wanted to raise questions about the new operation on Thursday in the presence of Leader of the House Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, will also be present.

They were assured by the PM that they would get opportunity to ask any and in any number of questions in the presence of military leadership. The members complained that the former government of the PTI facilitated the TTP terrorists to return from Afghanistan. They were of the view that such operations caused problems for them. The sources said the members of the national legislature had planned to ask queries about the previous military operations and their outcome.

Interestingly, Imran Khan had always been hesitant to attend such briefings under the pretext of presence of his opponents. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will attend today’s briefing. The sources said that Director General Inter-Services Intelligence (DGISI) Lieutenant General Nadeem Ahmad Anjum and Director General Military Operations (DGMO) Major General Avais Dastgir will also take part in the process of briefing. The military command will take the national legislature into confidence about the threat perception emanating due to recent developments, the sources said. The committee meeting would commence immediately after the Friday prayers at 2:30pm and the media would not allowed in the gallery.

The visitors and press galleries would be closed during the briefing.