PML-N and PPP in fresh spat over Ch Nisar comments

ISLAMABAD: The cordial environment in the joint sitting of parliament evaporated on Friday when outbursts of PPP’s stalwarts Atizaz Ahsan and Khursheed Shah opened the floodgates of criticism against Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan by accusing him of stabbing Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in the back.
Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, a PML-N stalwart, invited the wrath of the opposition leaders Aitzaz Ahsan and Khursheed Shah in the Senate and National Assembly, respectively, after he levelled serious allegations against Aitzaz of being a “spokesman of the land mafia” on Thursday. The joint sitting of parliament saw bashing of Nisar first by Khursheed Shah and then Aitzaz, both of whom criticised him for levelling “dirty charges” and accusing him of destabilising the government at a time when all the opposition parties had extended unconditional support to it “for the sake of democracy”.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s apology on the floor of the House did not stop Aitzaz Ahsan from speaking against the minister, although he appreciated his gesture of seeking an apology. “Prime minister can apologise but his interior minister is not ready to do it,” Aitzaz said while lambasting Nisar. The PPP leader asked the prime minister to look into his ranks and determine who is his own and who is bent upon destabilising the government.
Aitzaz and Nisar also resorted to badmouthing each other. Party colleagues kept trying to calm down Nisar, who left the House, apparently for not being allowed to speak on the floor of the House. In his speech studded with Urdu verses, Aitzaz declared that he would not be scared through “strong-arms tactics”. About the allegation of being a spokesman of the land mafia Aitzaz asked whether it was a signal towards Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and former chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry because he represented them in different cases in the courts.
Aitzaz pointed out that as soon as the government came out of pressure after the crisis seemed to be heading towards a resolution, the body language of the interior minister had changed. “They looked tired and exhausted for fifteen days when the protesting parties were exerting pressure on them and they were in search of support,” he said. “You people are not out of the crisis yet and have started behaving arrogantly,” Aitzaz remarked over the ministers’ behaviour. He suggested Prime Minister Nawaz reshuffle his cabinet and induct new and talented people.