ISLAMABAD, 25 November 2005 — The combined opposition has demanded complete supremacy of the Parliament in the reconstruction and relief work in the quake affected areas of Pakistan as a prerequisite for participating in the parliamentary committee to review the reconstruction and relief work.
The meeting of the combined opposition yesterday decided to take part in the proceedings of the parliamentary committee on reconstruction on the condition that Parliament should have final say in the reconstruction efforts and relief work finances should be under the supervision of parliamentary committee in order to maintain transparency.
A parliamentary committee on reconstruction and relief has been constituted by the Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and he has invited four members of the opposition parties including Maulana Fazalur Rehman (MMA), Makhdoom Muhammad Amin Fahim (PPP-P), Qazi Hussain Ahmed(MMA) and Nisar Ali Khan( PML-N) to join the committee as members.
In the meeting the government and opposition members differed on the question of mandate and functioning of the committee. They however agreed on the importance of Parliament playing a crucial role in reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts in the earthquake affected areas.
In a meeting with the leaders of combined opposition on Wednesday, Aziz handed over a draft of terms of reference of the committee to the opposition leaders.
The combined opposition, which includes most of the opposition groups with presence in the Parliament, after reviewing the draft Terms of Reference (TOR) have framed their terms of reference, which they said they would be presenting to the Prime Minister.
Aziz said: “We will consult our coalition partners after receiving the ToRs set by the opposition parties within next couple of days and then the committee will meet again in next week to start formal functioning.”
The leader of opposition in Senate, Sen. Raza Rabbani said that they have introduced some clauses in the terms of reference of the committee on reconstruction, which includes ensuring the complete supremacy of the Parliament in reconstruction process, the powers and functions of the committee should be properly defined, committee should be empowered to ensure financial transparency and relief institutions should work under the parliamentary committee.
Talking with newsmen after the meeting Qazi Hussain Ahmed said the opposition’s participation in the parliamentary committee was conditioned with approval of the draft by the government.
President Pervez Musharraf, meanwhile, blasted the opposition for not participating in the donors conference. “The opposition tried to fail the donors conference by refusing to take part in it, but they failed,” said Musharraf while speaking at the launching ceremony of the National Volunteer Movement.
