PPP walks out of NA over ‘disappearance’ of Zardari aides

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) walked out of the National Assembly on Thursday to protest ‘disappearance’ of close aides of former president Asif Ali Zardari.

Condemning their disappearance, opposition leader in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Shah protested that the missing aides had still not been presented in the courts, almost a week after they were reportedly ‘picked up’.

“What’s the use of the parliament if the government won’t do anything?” Shah demanded to know, adding that the parliament might as well be turned into a public speaking club.

The opposition leader pointed out that the failure to produce the missing persons in the courts was in violation of the Constitution and the parliament, and called on the government to respect the Constitution.

“The government had promised a response by today. If it does not respond to the matter then it is useless to sit in the assembly,” Shah continued.

He stressed the importance of a response over the missing aides as a means to strengthen institutions.

“Look at Libya, Syria.. they reached this dire state because of the weakness of their institutions. The powerful countries are using us,” Shah lamented.

The opposition leader walked out of the enclave, giving an ultimatum of half an hour to the government to produce a response over the matter.

Last week, Shah had said the missing people included Zardari’s manager Ghulam Qadir Marri and Nawab Leghari.

Read: Khursheed Shah urges Zardari aides be presented in court

"If you want to arrest people for being Zardari’s friends, then you should arrest me too, I can also tell you a lot," he had said while talking to media at his residence in the Ministers’ Enclave.