Parliament’s place

MUCH has changed in just a little over a decade. In 2015, when the question of Pakistan’s involvement in the conflict between Saudi Arabia and Yemeni rebels last arose, the then defence minister, Khawaja Asif, opened the issue for debate before a joint sitting of parliament. Days later, after a marathon session, it was the then finance minister, Ishaq Dar, who presented the parliamentary resolution affirming Pakistan’s support for Saudi Arabia’s territorial integrity, while conveying a desire to “maintain neutrality in the Yemen conflict so as to be able to play a proactive diplomatic role to…