Fazlur Rehman berates PTI govt for approving National Security Policy “without consulting parliament”
news desk
islamabad
Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Saturday said “one person’s opinion” on national matters is not enough.
“The National Security Policy was being formulated, but the parliament was unaware about it,” he said, while addressing an event, a day after Prime Minister Imran Khan launched the public version of the National Security Policy. The full version will remain confidential.
The JUI-F chief said his party had a massive following, lashing out at the government for green-lighting the security policy “without any consultations”.
“Politics is the only path to power,” the JUI-F chief said, adding: “The ulema have to unite for the benefit of the people.”
This is not the first time that the Opposition has critised the government over the NSP. In December, there was a ruckus in the upper house of Parliament, as senators lashed out at the government for not presenting the NSP in the Senate.
“What sort of a policy is this that the parliament did not get a chance to debate over? The parliament has not even seen this policy,” Senator Sherry Rehman said, chiding the government.
The National Security Committee (NSC) on December 27, 2021, approved Pakistan’s first-ever NSP 2022-2026, and a day later, it received the federal cabinet’s nod as well.
‘Heading in the right direction’
Addressing the launching ceremony of the NSP’s public version in Islamabad yesterday, PM Imran Khan said the nation was now “headed in the right direction”.
The premier said national security was defined “in the right manner” in the new policy, as Pakistan has only ever had a one-dimensional thought — “we only need military security”.
