The stalemate was resolved after PM assured that his Government had no intention of interfering in the CBI’s handling of Quoattrocchi issue.
Oppn calls off protest, agrees to debate ‘Q’ issue on March 7
NEW DELHI: The weeklong stalemate in Parliament was finally resolved on Thursday afternoon after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh assured that his Government had nothing to hide and had no intention of interfering in the CBI’s handling of the Quoattrocchi issue.
“As far as we are concerned, we have done nothing wrong and the CBI is free to proceed in the manner it feels fit,” the Prime Minister said. He
also said he had no intention of speaking to the media on the issue ahead of Parliament. “I only responded to a question. I didn’t mean to ignore the Parliament or the Opposition,” he added.
A breakthrough of sorts was also achieved earlier in the day following the intervention of the presiding officers of both the Houses. The ball was set rolling in a closed door meeting in the Rajya Sabha Chairman’s chamber with the PM and Pranab Mukherjee and a similar meeting in the Lok Sabha speaker’s chamber. A spate of meeting ensued between the two sides involving Pranab Mukherjee, Priyo Ranjan Dasmunshi, Suresh Pachoiuri, LK Advani, Jaswant Singh and Sushma Swaraj.
The Government agreed to assuage the Opposition’s feelings on the issue of the Prime Minister’s statement, while the Opposition agreed to call off its protest and allow the Parliament to function normally.
According to an agreement worked out between the two sides, the Quoattrocchi issue will be debated in the Parliament probably on March 7, a day after the Prime Minister’s reply on the motion of thanks on the President’s address.
“We’ve absolutely no problem in discussing the issue. Though the Minister of Personal Affairs has given a statement, the Prime Minister may even dwell on it if it is brought up during the debate on the President’s address,” said Parliamentary Affairs Minister Priyo Ranjan Dasmunshi.
Raising the issue soon after lunch, the Leader of the Opposition, L K Advani, asked why the Government remained silent about Quattrocchi’s detention in Argentina till Feb 23. “The Parliament was kept in the dark. Had the Prime Minister agreed to address the Parliament rather than addressing the media, it would have solved the problem,” Advani said.
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