ISLAMABAD: The Upper House of parliament on Monday witnessed exchange of words between the legislators belonging to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
PTI senators Nauman Wazir, Mohsin Aziz, Faisal Javed and others strongly reacted to a speech by PML-N’s Mushahidullah Khan in which he levelled serious allegations against Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry. Khan also exchanged words with PTI’s Nauman Wazir, leading to an uproar in the House. PTI legislators asked the PML-N leader to mind his language and apologize, which he refused.
Mushahidullah Khan, while unleashing usual verbal onslaught on ruling PTI, claimed that downfall of the government had already started. Taking a jibe at what he called government’s loan-seeking drive from friendly countries, Khan stated that he had seen such a prime minister for the first time who informed beforehand that he was going to beg from a certain country. He also criticized the prime minister over talking about corruption in Pakistan during his China trip, saying even a dictator won’t say such things about his country abroad. “You were washing the dirty linen of Pakistan abroad. It was painful [to see that],” he said.
Khan went on to say that the government couldn’t answer whether Asia Bibi, the Christian woman acquitted by apex court in blasphemy case, was in Pakistan or not. “At present, talks are being held over establishing ties with Israel. No one is willing to talk on Asia Bibi or arrival of an Israeli aircraft in Islamabad,” he added.
Khan revealed that a lawmaker of PTI owns 36 offshore companies, however he refrained from making his name public. Accusing govt of carrying out biased accountability, he urged the government to hold everyone accountable irrespective of his loyalties.
Khan said the government was incompetence and begging from abroad. He said Imran Khan has yet to fulfil his promise of appearing before the parliament to answer opposition’s queries.
On several occasion, Chairman Senate Sadiq Sanjrani intervened and asked Khan to restrict to the topic and expunged his several comments against the PTI leaders.
The House resumed debate on motions regarding terms and conditions of all types of loans taken by government, recent hike in gas and electricity prices and a recent sit-in staged by religious parties.
Taking part in the discussion, Senator Faisal Javed Khan said government was taking concrete steps to enhance exports of the country. He said remittances had reached its highest level. He said people of Pakistan demand accountability across the board, adding that the process of accountability would speed up.
PPP’s Senator Mustafa Nawaz Kokhar criticized the government for reaching an agreement with protesters to end the sit-in held in Islamabad and other parts of the country. He also criticized the government for what he called a selective accountability. He said the government should fulfil the promises made during its election campaign.
Meanwhile, 13 bills were introduced in the House, including: “The Day Care Centres Bill, 2018”, “The Trained Paramedical Staff Facility Bill, 2018”, “The Board of Investment (Amendment) Bill, 2018”, “The Ratification of Foreign Agreements by Parliament Bill, 2018,” “The Exit from Pakistan (Control) (Amendment) Bill, 2018”, “The SBP Banking Services Corporation (Repeal) Bill, 2018”, “The Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2018 (Amendment of Article 11)”, “The Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues (Amendment) bill, 2018”, “The Foreign Private Investment (Promotion and Protection) (Amendment) Bill, 2018″, ‘The Banking Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2018”, “The Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2018 (Amendment of Article 130)”, “The State Bank of Pakistan (Amendment) Bill, 2018” and “The Maternity and Paternity Leave Bill, 2018”. The Chair referred these bills to the concerned committees of the House.
PPP Parliamentary Leader Senator Sherry Rehman submitted two labour-related bills in the Senate to amend the Board of Investment Ordinance, 2001, and the Foreign Private Investment (Promotion and Protection) Act, 1976. The bills aim at providing legislative support for the local workforce.
Speaking on the floor of the House, Rehman said, “We have the 10th largest labour force with nearly 1.5 million people entering it annually, yet there seems to be no concrete plan in place for them. With the projected surge of FDI in Pakistan, it is mandatory to enact these laws. The government should have done this much earlier.”
Later, the chairman adjourned the session to meet again on Wednesday at 2:30pm.
Published in Daily Times, November 13th 2018.