Summary The scenes witnessed today in the parliament were reminiscent of ex-president Zardari’s 2012 speech.
(Web Desk) – President Mamnoon Hussain made his speech in the joint sitting of parliament today. The president spoke among chants of ‘Go Nawaz Go’ and various other anti-government slogans shouted by members of the National Assembly from the opposition parties.
As the president started his speech, he raised the point that the practice of making the opposition parties a scapegoat for the country’s problems is a practice that does not let countries progress. However, the president’s reconciliatory tone was ignored and the parliament was filled with the slogan of ‘Go Nawaz Go’. As the speech continued, the ruling party kept on applauding the president while the opposition remained engaged in raising chants against the ruling party.
This was Mamnoon Hussain’s last speech in the parliament before the general elections of 2018. The president generally shed light on the progress made during the past four years and the future development projects and issues to be dealt with. But his speech was drowned by rowdy members of the opposition.
The scenes witnessed today in the parliament were reminiscent of former president Zardari’s speech in March 2012 to a joint sitting of the parliament. Zardari had shed light on the progress that the government had made during its term and what an achievement it was for democracy and PPP that a government was completing its five years. As he spoke, his speech was marred by slogans from the opposition party, especially PML-N. The very same lawmakers who were chanting against Zardari then were at the receiving end of critical slogans today, that too by the same parliamentarians against whom slogans were chanted in 2012.
It seems that as the parliament complete its tenure for the second time, spoiling the president’s last speech with slogans against the ruling party or their chairperson has become a customary practice. Political parties have shown that no one wants to hear celebratory speeches at the end of a tenure that has not witnessed any progress.
