Chairman Senate Raza Rabbani on Friday summoned defense minister to the House for a policy statement on government's decision to send troops to Saudi Arabia. The directives from chairman Senate came when Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Senator Farhatullah Babar took up the matter through a point of public importance, saying that he has also given notice of adjournment.
"There is a joint resolution of the Parliament that Pakistan will not send troops to Saudi Arabia...the [Senate] Secretariat is directed to issue notice to the defence minister to come to the House on Monday and make a policy statement about the issue," ruled Rabbani.
Referring to the ISPR announcement on Thursday regarding sending troops to Saudi Arabia, Senator Babar said that it came after a meeting between Army Chief and Saudi Ambassador in Islamabad which was preceded by a recent 3-day visit, the second in two months, undertaken to Saudi Arabia during which the Army chief also met Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman and military commanders.
"The number of troops is not known but the disclosure that it will be less than a division [consisting 1,500 combat troops and 8,000 support elements] is an indication that almost a full-fledged army division is being sent to the kingdom," he said. The PPP senator said that the deliberately nuanced statements of the Foreign Office condemning the Houthi missile attacks as a threat to the kingdom and the Holy Mosques also appear to be aimed at justifying sending Pakistani troops with a view to actively engaging the Yemenis in the conflict on the side of the Saudis. "Has anyone given a serious thought to its grave consequences?" he questioned.
Reminding the Parliament's unanimous resolution that sought strict neutrality, he asked who is making unilateral decisions by bypassing the Parliament. On April 09, 2015, the Parliament, through a joint resolution, had refused to commit troops to the Saudi-led campaign against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, complicating efforts by Saudi Arabia to build a broad coalition for a possible ground offensive.
Later, 'Capital Development Authority (Amendment) Ordinance, 2018' was once again dropped by the House through a head count in which 12 member rose in favour of the laying of the ordinance while 17 members voted against it. The members belonging to PKMAP, Sajid Toori, a FATA Senator, and Kabir Shahi of NP also voted against the ordinance.
The chairman Senate had earlier disallowed state minister for Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) for an inordinate delay in laying the ordinance before the Senate, saying under the Constitution, an ordinance must be laid before the House within 10 days of its promulgation.
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