Opposition parties in Pakistan on Thursday strongly criticised Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s decision to join the US President Donald Trump-led Board of Peace for Gaza redevelopment, questioning how the decision was taken without a consultation in the country’s parliament, according to a report by Geo News.
Shehbaz Sharif was among the few leaders who joined the Trump-led initiative that aims to find a long-term solution for Gaza. Leaders and senior officials from 19 countries, including Trump’s allies from Argentina and Hungary, joined the US president on stage and signed the founding charter of the body.
Pakistan accepts US invitation
Trump was the first to sign the charter and later observed the signing ceremony, which took place on the sidelines of the 56th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF). Pakistan had received an invitation from President Trump to join the Board, which the government later accepted.
Speaking in the National Assembly, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman said it was the government’s duty to inform parliament about decisions of such national importance. He questioned whether even the cabinet had been taken into confidence if parliament was being ignored, the report mentioned.
Questions over parallel global frameworks
Fazl also asked whether creating the Board of Peace amounted to setting up a parallel system when international bodies like the United Nations and the UN Security Council already existed. He said Pakistan’s decision to join the Gaza Peace Board was simply an attempt to seek the “blessings of US President Donald Trump,” calling it a highly sensitive issue, as per the report.
He further criticised the government’s foreign policy, alleging that national decisions were being made under international pressure instead of being guided by Pakistan’s own interests. Referring to recent political events, he said the country had seen many dark days and announced that February 8 would be observed as a “black day.”
Senate opposition calls move ‘morally wrong’
Meanwhile, Opposition Leader in the Senate, Allama Raja Nasir Abbas, described Pakistan’s decision as “morally wrong and indefensible”. Speaking in the Senate, he said Pakistan’s participation in the Gaza peace framework lacked ethical justification and raised serious concerns about its consequences, Geo News reported.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan also criticised the move, saying the prime minister’s decision to join the Gaza Board of Peace without consultation could not be seen as a positive step. Addressing the National Assembly, he said parliament had been sidelined and demanded that the government clearly explain the terms and conditions of joining the board.
He added that while the government was free to join UN institutions, the Board of Peace was not a UN body, making it wrong to take such a decision without first bringing it before parliament. Former National Assembly speaker Asad Qaiser said PTI had completely disassociated itself from the decision.