Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani told the National Assembly on Wednesday his government would seek a consensus for its response to the so-called Kerry-Lugar bill in light of opposition and military reservations over conditions attached to it as the house began a debate over the measure that will triple non-military US aid to Pakistan.

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani told the National Assembly on Wednesday his government would seek a consensus for its response to the so-called Kerry-Lugar bill in light of opposition and military reservations over conditions attached to it as the house began a debate over the measure that will triple non-military US aid to Pakistan.

After opposition leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan opened the debate with a strong attack on the bill’s conditions, that he said hit Pakistan’s interests and self-respect and a reassurance of cooperation with the 16-month-old PPP-led coalition government, Mr Gilani said he had asked Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood QureshiShah Mehmood Qureshi to urgently return from a US visit to wind up the debate.

The debate began somewhat late after a military statement said a corps commanders’ meeting held earlier in the day had ‘expressed serious concern regarding (the bill’s) clauses impacting on national security’ and that ‘a formal input’ was being provided to the government.

Military’s letter:

The prime minister informed the house that he had received a letter from the military, but gave no details about what possibly was the promised input, and said he had taken President Asif Ali ZardariAsif Ali Zardari and Chief of the Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez KayaniAshfaq Parvez Kayani into confidence about the matter.

‘If the military has some reservations and if the house has reservations, then we will move ahead with consensus,’ he said, adding that his government had sought consensus on all major issues.

But he politely dismissed the opposition leader’s fears that the bill’s conditions, which the government says will apply only to a still undetermined security assistance and not to $7.5 billion civilian aid over the next five years, would compromise the country’s military chain of command and the nuclear programme, saying the PPP government could not allow any foreign influence in military promotions or give access to ‘outsiders’ to its nuclear programme.

Certification:

Chaudhry Nisar also objected to the conditions for certification by the US secretary of state about Pakistan’s performance in combating terrorist groups, the role of intelligence agencies and non-subversion of political or judicial processes, ‘this is our problem, not their’, though he left out what he called many other objectionable aspects for other opposition members to comment on, he said his PML-N party agreed with some conditionalities like parliamentary oversight of the military budgets, chain of command and the process of promotions and civilian involvement in strategic guidance.

The opposition leader disputed the government’s view, given by Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira in a forceful speech in the house on Monday that the conditions in what in the ‘Enhanced Partnership with Pakistan Act of 2009’ applied only to the security assistance and not to the $1.5 billion a year civilian aid, saying the requirement of a monitoring process against the diversion to nuclear programme of resources meant for other activities could hit the civilian aid as well.