Daily Times

Despite commanding majority in the Senate, the opposition was Thursday left red-faced in the Senate after the government managed to pass the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) (Amendment) Bill, 2022.

Ahead of the vote, PPP leader Yousaf Raza Gilani said a public hearing was necessary before approving the price. However, Leader of the House Senator Shehzad Waseem said the bill had already been passed with consensus by the standing committee concerned.

Senator Raza Rabbani said the bill should have been put before the Council of Common Interest.

Science and Technology Minister Shibli Faraz clarified that the bill empowered the Ogra and had “nothing to do with the IMF and CCI.” When the bill was presented before the House, the opposition staged a walkout and the bill was passed by the Senate after Dilawar Khan group voted in favour of the bill.

In the initial voting, 29 senators voted in favour and the same number of lawmakers voted against the bill. However, the bill was passed by the Upper House after Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani voted in favour of the bill.

The same happened during the allied health professional council’s bill; the senate chairman cast the vote in favour of the law.

Chairman Sanjrani took a jibe at Energy Minister Hammad Azhar after the latter arrived in the House late, says a news report.

“Hammad you can leave, the bill has been passed and you’re late as always,” said Sanjrani.

Under the bill, if the federal government fails to notify the Ogra’s recommended prices within 40 days, the regulator has been empowered to notify the new price.

The bill empowers Ogra to decide the price of RLNG and LNG without holding a public hearing.

The government had last month also managed to get through the Senate the ‘controversial’ State Bank of Pakistan Amendment Bill by a majority of 43 votes to 42 of opposition, leaving the fuming opposition senators in utter disbelief, who called it a bulldozed legislation and a direct threat to Pak sovereignty and national security. It was understood the late night inclusion of the bill in the orders of the day played a critical part, as Leader of Opposition Yusuf Raza Gilani, who was in Multan, could not make it to the session. Though the opposition commands decisive majority in the House, besides Gilani, PMLN’s Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed was on leave, down reportedly with Covid while Nuzhat Sadiq was presently in Canada.

Moreover, ANP Senator from Balochistan Umer Farooq, who was seen in the House, was not around during voting. Needless to say, the total number of members of the Senate is 99 but 86 members were present in the House at the critical moments of the sitting. The independent group, led by Dilawar Khan, also voted for the bill despite the fact, Hidayatullah and Hilal-ur-Rehman were also not present during the proceedings.

Likewise, the treasury members, including Faisal Sabzwari and Khaleda Ateeb of MQM were also absent from the meeting, besides Qasim Ranjho and Sikandar Mendhro did not attend the sitting: PkMAP’s Shafiq Tareen and Naseema Ehsan, both from Balochistan were also not present in the House.

Opposition JUIF Senator Talha Mahmood did not attend the sitting while PTI’s Dr Zarqa Taimur made it to the House despite poor health. The adoption of the SBP bill, already passed by the National Assembly, is the second key legislation with reference to the IMF loan facility, as already the government got passed the Supplementary Finance Bill.