ISLAMABAD, 25 June 2004 — President Pervez Musharraf yesterday presided over the first meeting of the National Security Council, rejecting claims by opposition parties that it was a supra-constitutional body.
“The NSC is not above the Parliament. It is a consultative body on national security issues,” he told the meeting, which was boycotted by the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly, Maulana Fazlur Rahman.
The six-party opposition alliance Muttaheda Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), of which Fazl is the secretary-general, had on Wednesday announced that it would stay away from the NSC meeting in protest at Musharraf’s role as army chief.
Apart from Musharraf and Fazl, the council consists of Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, key federal ministers, provincial governors and chief ministers, the speaker of the National Assembly, the chairman of the Senate, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff committee and the chiefs of the army, navy and air force.
Chief Minister Akram Durrani of the MMA-ruled North West Frontier Province did not attend the meeting. “I am clearly disappointed over Fazl’s decision not to attend the first NSC meeting,” Musharraf said, adding, he took “very strong exception” to Durrani’s absence. He said that the NSC had been formed to safeguard the country’s national interests. “The NSC does not reinforce office of the president rather it will help improve checks on this vital office,” he said in reference to allegations by the opposition that the NSC would “hang like a sword” over the elected Parliament.
The formation of NSC was part of a deal between the government and the MMA last December on legitimizing the controversial Legal Framework Order (LFO) after Musharraf agreed to relinquish the office of army chief by Dec. 31, 2004.
The LFO, which became part of the constitution after the Parliament passed the 17th Amendment Bill earlier this year and conferred sweeping powers on the presidential office including that of dissolving the National Assembly, and rendered the elected Parliament secondary.
“The NSC provides a unique blend of key state functionaries including elected representatives, top military officials, parliamentary opposition and provincial heads of government to deliberate on issues of strategic importance,” Musharraf said.
Ministers for the interior and foreign affairs briefed the council on internal security and Pakistan-India dialogue process respectively. The two South Asian neighbors are set to hold talks next week at foreign secretary level to discuss the Jammu and Kashmir disputes as well as peace and security and nuclear confidence-building measures.
Meanwhile, Pakistani Foreign Secretary Riaz H. Khokhar briefed leaders of Azad Kashmir in Islamabad yesterday on upcoming talks between Pakistani and Indian foreign secretaries, according to an official statement issued in Islamabad. “Pakistan will remain firm on its principled position on the Kashmir dispute which remains the core issue between Pakistan and India,” Khokhar told Kashmiri leaders.
