Government again fails to convince opposition over military courts

The government again fails to make any progress in convincing the opposition parties to grant extension to military courts for pursuing terrorism related cases, as a third joint meeting on Tuesday remained inconclusive once again. Speaker National Assembly Ayaz Saddiq chaired the third meeting of the parliamentary parties on the subject and the opposition parties expressed dissatisfaction over the briefing given by Law Minister Zahid Hamid and instead asked the government to explain its future roadmap related to judicial reforms.
According to Vice Chairman Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Shah Mehmood Qureshi, who was one of the participants, the opposition parties also raised questions on the absence of Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan. The parties want Nisar to give a comprehensive briefing to the committee about the government's performance during the last two years, as the military courts had been allowed to function conditionally for a period of two years.
Talking to reporters after the meeting, Qureshi said that the PTI asked the law minister during the briefing to update the meeting whether or not two allies of the government, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party, were on the same page with the government, before taking the opposition parties on board.
He said that JUI-F representative Akram Khan Durrani asked the government to give a comprehensive briefing to the parliamentary parties' leaders. However, Qureshi said that only security agencies can give such a comprehensive briefing to the panel.
He said that his party also sought explanation whether the meeting of the parliamentary parties is a decision making forum, as earlier it was the All Parties' Conference (APC) chaired by the Prime Minister and attended by the Army Chief and other relevant security agencies which decided to allow the military courts to work for a period of two years with a condition that the government would bring comprehensive reforms in judicial system.
"The government is yet to give response to these very questions, neither it won the confidence of its own allied parties nor of the opposition parties," he said.
Senior leader of Pakistan People's Party Parliamentarians (PPPP), Syed Naveed Qamar said that today's meeting remained inconclusive and the opposition parties asked the government to explain its future roadmap in the next meeting to be held on February 16.
"After the passage of two years since the military courts were established, we have witnessed a zero progress," he said, adding the government did not perform what it was supposed to do in parallel with the military courts.
Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader Dr Farooq Sattar said his party has demanded the government to ensure implementation on National Action Plan (NAP) in accordance with its true spirit.
Law Minister Zahid Hamid, however, told reporters that comprehensive briefing has been given to the meeting, covering all the queries raised by the opposition parties.
He said that the government would share its future roadmap in the next meeting and expressed the hope that consensus would be evolved in giving extension to military courts, adding the military courts have 99 per cent conviction rate.
He further said that it should also be kept in view that incidents of terrorism have declined significantly during the last two years, adding Zarb-e-Azb and the military courts were the major reasons behind decrease in terror incidents in the country.
According to the documents, which were shared with the parliamentary leaders and are also available with Business Recorder, law and order in Karachi has been improved and there has been a significant decline in terror incidents.
It showed that incidents of target killing went down by 69 per cent, murder rates declined by 50 per cent, terrorism down by 80 per cent and incidents of robbery dipped by 30 per cent in Karachi. It also showed that as many as 16,304 weapons were also recovered during the last two years.