ISLAMABAD: Pakistan People’s Party Senator Raza Rabbani has demanded a review of the policy of negotiations with the TTP and the seven-year-old National Action Plan against terrorism.
According to media reports, speaking to the media on Thursday, the former chairman of the Senate proposed that a new action plan should be prepared by the Parliamentary Committee on National Security (PCNS) in which all stakeholders are represented. A committee was formed in 2012 after the US military operation in Abbottabad that killed Osama bin Laden, the top leader of al-Qaeda.
These demands from the senator of Pakistan People’s Party have come out at a time when Defense Minister Khawaja Asif expressed his concerns about the success of negotiations with TTP while speaking in the National Assembly a day ago and admitted. Anti-Taliban sentiments are increasing in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as people are holding protests in different parts of the province against the presence of Taliban in their area.
Raza Rabbani also condemned the increase in terrorist attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and said that there was an increase in terrorist attacks in the province due to which security forces personnel were martyred.
The PPP senator added that these attacks call for a review of the National Action Plan and the policy of dialogue with the TTP as it appears that the TTP no longer has a unified command. .
Raza Rabbani suggested that the policy, new action plan should be formulated from the platform of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security in consultation with all stakeholders and then implemented after approval by the joint session of the Parliament.
He further said that its implementation should also be monitored by the committee and it is required to submit a report on the status of implementation in both houses of Parliament every three months.
The former Senate Chairman also suggested that the Rules of the Parliamentary Committee should be amended and the Speaker should be the Chairman of the Committee from the Senate instead of the National Assembly as this matter is related to the Federation.
