Shah Mehmood Qureshi slams Yousaf Raza Gilani in Senate, terms his resignation ‘drama’

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi in the Senate Tuesday sharply criticised the Leader of the Opposition Yousaf Raza Gilani, alleging he is compromised and sold and will stick to the post of leader of the opposition and called his resignation a drama.

Interestingly, both Qureshi and Gilani belong to Multan and the tug-of-war between the two is not new. However, the way the minister unleashed criticism on Gilani in the upper house was a rare verbal bout and some of his remarks had to be expunged by the chair, who asked him not to be personal.

Apparently, his outburst was in reaction to Gilani’s statement a day earlier in the Senate that had he been silent on a bill on South Punjab, moved by the PMLN’s Rana Mehmoodul Hasan, a federal minister from Multan would have also not spoken in the House after the bill had been referred to the House panel concerned and he still continued to talk on the matter.

Qureshi rose to speak on the recently-passed SBP Amendment Bill, as the controversy regarding this ‘controversial legislation’ continued to echo in the House, where the joint opposition enjoyed majority but on Friday last when the bill was put to vote, eight of its members, including Gilani, could not ensure their presence during voting on the bill.

The minister clarified that he would like to put the government’s thinking before this House and that making SBP autonomous is in line with its economic responsibility. The impression that the institution has been enslaved is totally wrong.

Qureshi said the quarterly SBP reports would continue to be laid in the Parliament for scrutiny, which was a sovereign constitutional institution. He, then, slammed the leader of the opposition in the Senate and said he had made an irresponsible statement regarding Senate chairman Monday, which was an exaggeration. The minister said leader of opposition charged that the chair had facilitated the government by exercising his vote right instead of being impartial in the wake of tie between the treasury and opposition members on the motion, moved for seeking leave to introduce the bill. He explained Gilani had not read ‘rule’ 240, which gave this right to the chair and it was his prerogative.

Then Qureshi said the leader of opposition gave explanations in the House regarding his absence on that day while the entire country knew what was the factual position and many sections in the opposition were also not satisfied with his explanation that in the darkness of night, all of a sudden the SBP Bill was made part of the agenda and he didn’t know about it.

He continued on the call of finance minister, IMF board had delayed their meeting for the passage of the SBP bill, which was passed by the National Assembly and then had come to the Senate. “And, he says, I was not aware of it while he had already invited the Independent Group leader Senator Dilawar Khan for support against the bill and when he reached there, he was not found in his office and Senator Dilawar himself said this in the House a day earlier,” he noted.

The minister then challenged Gilani to see him eye to eye and if he was feeling shy, he would observe ‘Purdah’; this triggered commotion in the House and first some opposition members and then others from the treasury side started speaking at the top of their voice.

“Is this House not aware of how he (Gilani) became senator by buying votes and tapes are available on media, how his son was trying to buy support for his father. Gilani is also appearing before the Election Commission in this connection,” Qureshi charged. The minister continued the onslaught on Gilani and alleged that he had ditched PMLN after agreeing that leader of opposition would be (Azam Nazeer Tarar) from PMLN, having majority and then same night, he himself became opposition leader and the same game he played Friday last on SBP Bill. “There are explanations to make, but I will not speak further today, as there is a long game on. But I predict, he will stick to being opposition leader for his resignation is just a drama and a lie,” he added.

He wondered why he was made opposition leader while there were seasoned senators around like Raza Rabbani and Sherry Rehman. After his outburst, the chair adjourned the House to meet again Friday morning.

Earlier, PPP Senator Taj Haider urged that the wounds were still fresh and there may not be rubbing of salt in them and pointed out that after the SBP Bill’s passage, two trends were furthered: the government repeatedly said it was compelled to get the bill passed and bring a mini-budget. And then, he continued, a totally different narrative was being propagated and these two developments were being presented as a great victory, so crucial for Pakistan’s emancipation.

He said the second narrative or trend was an attempt to divide the opposition and fingers being raised at the leader of opposition. “We condemn this and ask those pointing fingers at him to recall his great sacrifices for the party. He remained in jail for 10 years and resigned as prime minister for the sake of the party. Our struggle against financial and American imperialism, which started 50 years ago, will continue. Our party established its credentials by embracing the gallows, bearing flogging and confinements,” he added.

However, he said mistakes had been made in the past and blunders committed and recalled how his NAB Amendment Bill was defeated by one vote when 17 of their members were absent from the House at that time. He also conceded that it was also their shortcoming that they could not talk to the Independent Group and convince them on the SBP Bill implications.

Leader of the House Dr Shahzad Waseem said the echo of political events, following the adoption of the bill still could be heard and Senator Taj Haider started a new debate that the bill was passed under compulsion but let me make it clear there was compulsion only about the timeline while on the contents of the bill, the entire state was in agreement.

He continued that, among other things, the appointment of members of the board of SBP rests with the prime minister as well as the federal cabinet. And, he reminded both the PPP and the PMLN about the amendments, their respective governments had been making on the demand of IMF from time to time and that PTI government was not the first to do so. Why now, he noted, a spin was being given to the situation, which was witnessed Friday and asked the opposition parties to first put their house in order. He also lashed out at the Sindh government for unleashing alleged violence on even women and children, belonging to the MQM, who had peacefully gathered outside the CM House. He also questioned where stood the PDM and what happened to its drives to remove the PTI government and where were the three MPs, about whom Maryam Nawaz had announced they would resign.

Asim Ysin adds: Opposition leader in the Senate Yusuf Raza Gillani, meanwhile, termed the speech of Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi in the Senate contempt of the Senate.

“The foreign minister has tarnished the image of the country and I did not expect him to stoop this low,” he said while talking to newsmen at the Parliament House after the speech of Qureshi in the Senate in which he harshly criticized him. Gillani said he did not get opportunity to respond to Qureshi’s remarks as the Senate chairman left the house.

He said he was not made opposition leader by the Senate chairman but by his party. “Either Qureshi got angry with me for being elected as a senator or he was assuming that the party will accept my resignation as opposition leader,” he said.

He lashed out at Qureshi, saying that he had requested him to give a policy statement but he started a tirade against him. “The foreign minister has lowered his ethical standards without any reason," he said.