Daily Times

The National Assembly Tuesday decried the tradition of presidential ordinances, saying that legislation should be practiced instead of ordinances. Speaking in the House with Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf in the chair, Maulana Abdul Akbar Chitrali termed an ordinance a ‘kind of terrorism’. He recalled that when the current treasury was in the opposition, it rejected and condemned such ordinances but today same ordinances were being adopted on a daily basis.

“I will oppose this ordinance and condemn all such moves as well as demand from the house to come up with the constitutional ways only,” he demanded. Chitrali was speaking when the speaker gave him the floor after a resolution was adopted by the house to further extend a presidential ordinance. Federal Minister Syed Naveed Qamar endorsed the point raised by Chitrali, saying “the concern was totally genuine that how a wrong action of the past could be right today when we are in government.”

He agreed that the legislation was the only constitutional path. “Mr Speaker you assigned me to commit this sin which I have done willy-nilly as to follow the parliamentary norms but it never could be called a right move,” he regretted. Qamar justified that he read the resolution in the absence of the minister concerned. On this, the speaker also endorsed that the introduction of ordinance was not as per the constitutional practices. Ashraf, however, justified that it was already tabled and ‘to run the house was the collective responsibly of all of us’.

The adopted resolution was to extend the General Statistics (Re-organization) (Amendment) Ordinance, 2022 (III of 2022) for a further period of one hundred and twenty days with effect from June 21, 2022 under proviso to sub-paragraph (ii) of paragraph (a) of clause (2) of Article 89 of the Constitution of the Islamic republic of Pakistan. In the previous tenure of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), a large number of presidential ordinances passed by the parliament which remained under criticism then opposition. Chitrali also condemned the martyrdom of security personnel in the country and said ‘our security forces have rendered immense sacrifices in the war on terrorism’. “I strongly condemn the terror incidents. We have to fight this menace with unity,” he recalled. The house offered fateha for those killed in a recent terrorist incident in North Waziristan and former provincial minister Bakht Baidar Khan, who passed away in Lower Dir a few days back.

Participating in the budget debate, Shahnaz Baloch said relevant stakeholders should sit together to chart out a way forward to rid the country of debt. She said special focus should be given to the development of Balochistan.

Riaz-ul-Haq said the government should address the issue of circular debt. He said water reservoirs should be constructed to overcome the issue of water scarcity and ensure food security. Shams-un-Nisa was appreciative of the government for extending relief to the masses, including employee, in the budget regardless of the difficult economic situation. Tahira Aurangzeb said the budget envisaged a special loan scheme for the youth which will help them stand on their own feet. She said the government had also given unprecedented incentives to the agriculture sector.

Maulana Kamal Uddin said difficult decisions had to be taken to bring reforms in loss making institutions. He said this is important to take the country in the right direction. Rana Muhammad Qasim Noon said the political parties should set aside their differences and agree on a charter of economy for the sake of the country. He said political stability is a must to bring prosperity in the country. He proposed that farmers should be given interest-free loans for switching to solar tube-wells.

Sajid Mehdi said all the political parties should sit together and devise a common strategy to put the country on the path of development. He urged the government to take concrete steps for the development of the agriculture sector. Ayesha Rajab Ali demanded the government to establish a university campus, a girls’ college, and to upgrade the Tehsil Headquarters Hospital in Tandlianwala.