Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani on Monday asked the government to clarify the appointment of former army chief General (r) Raheel Sharif as chief of the Islamic Military Alliance.

The chairman asked Defence Minister Khawaja Asif to appear before the Upper House on Wednesday. He said the government should inform the Senate about rules under which the former army chi ef was allowed to join the new job. Asif was asked to explain whether a no objection certificate (NOC) was issued to the former army chief. The defence minister sought time and said he would inform the Senate in this regard.

“As you are aware that this thing was in the pipeline for quite some time and the prime minister was also part of the deliberations,” the defence minister said.

The Saudi government had last year surprised many countries by announcing that it had forged a coalition for coordinating and supporting military operations in Iraq, Syria, Libya, Egypt and Afghanistan.

The House unanimously passed amendment to the National Counter Terrorism Authority (NCTA) law that makes it obligatory for the executive committee of the authority to meet at least once in three months to oversee the implementation of the National Action Plan (NAP). The authority has two bodies, the board headed by the prime minister and the executive committee headed by the interior minister.

The amendment moved by the PPP Senator Farhatullah Babar made it mandatory for the executive committee to meet and oversee policy implementation involving all stakeholders.

Speaking on the amendment bill, Babar said that the board led by the PM had not met even once during the past two years while the executive committee was not even mandated to meet regularly due to which fight against militancy had been gravely undermined. This had also attracted the adverse attention of the Quetta Commission.

The Senate also passed the Representation of the People (Amendment) Bill, 2016, introduced by Senator Sherry Rehman. The bill ensures that barring women from exercising their right to vote is now a criminal offence. “Now no jirga can prevent women from voting in the name of custom, tradition or fear,” declared the senator.

The House passed “The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) (Amendment) Bill, 2015” with a majority. The bill moved by Sassui Palijo provides to amend the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority Ordinance, 2002.

“The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2016” was moved by Babar Awan. It provides for protection of rights of transgender persons and their welfare and related matters.

“The Provincial Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2016” was moved by Mian Muhammad Ateeq Sheikh. It provided to amend the Provincial Motor Vehicles Ordinance, 1965. The chair referred the bills to the standing committees concerned.

The Senate also took up the matter of Tayyaba, who was tortured in the house of an additional sessions judge. Chairman Senate Rabbani in his observation said that the two additional sessions judges, first in the house of which the girl was tortured and second who gave initial verdict in the case and let the girl go along with her parents, should be suspended so that impartial inquiry should be done in the case. Speaking on calling attention notice, Senator Sehar Kamran said that in the presence of constitutional guarantees and international conventions the incident was a matter of national shame.

Meanwhile, eight senators of the Human Rights Committee also requisitioned a meeting to discuss the incident of torture of the child maid, the disappearance of four social media activists, a follow up in the murder of Multan-based human rights activist Rashid Rehman and the case of 28 persons missing from Malakand Internment Centre sometime back. The requisitioned notice submitted in the Senate Secretariat was signed by Senators Aitzaz Ahsan, Farhatullah Babar, Dr Babar Awan, Samina Abid, Nisar Muhammad Khan, Mohsin Leghari, Mir Kabeer Ahmed Shahi and Sehar Kamran.