Opposition parties have decided to boycott the upcoming meeting of parliamentary leaders called by the federal government for a briefing on the National Action Plan (NAP).
In a letter to Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Leader of the Opposition in National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif has demanded that the government give a briefing to all the lawmakers rather than a selected few leaders.
Earlier, in an invitation letter by FM Qureshi, parliamentary leaders of all the opposition parties were invited to attend the briefing scheduled on March 28.
Government had invited the opposition parties for a briefing after Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari raised questions on government’s commitment to implement NAP in true letter and spirit. “Pakistan’s position would have been different if the country had carried out the timely implementation of the National Action Plan. With timely NAP implementation, India wouldn’t have any basis for accusing Pakistan and Pakistan will have evidence to present about the steps taken by the country against extremism,” he had said in an interview with BBC Urdu.
Published in Daily Times, March 21st 2019.
