recorder report

ISLAMABAD: Accusing the government of intentionally weakening the Parliament, Chairman Senate Raza Rabbani on Monday issued one last warning to the government ministers to ensure their presence in the House or else he would not run the proceedings.

The warning from the flamboyant Senate chairman came at a time when seven agenda items had to be deferred from the order of the day due to absence of four government ministers, which forced Rabbani to say that ‘the government itself is weakening the Parliament.’

“I will not conduct the proceedings of the house even if the President [of Pakistan] summons it. I will just come, open the proceedings and will adjourn it then, as the government ministers do not pay any heed to the Senate,” he warned.

He directed Leader of the House in Senate Raja Zafarul Haq top look into the matter, saying the absence of the ministers has become a routine matter, which shows the government is non-serious about the Upper House of the Parliament, which is not acceptable.

Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed drew the attention of Sartaj Aziz, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs, to brief the house about the death sentence awarded to Indian spy Kulbhushan Yadav, Indian government’s reaction on it and the date when the spy will be hanged.

The adviser skipped the question with brief remarks that it was done according to the law of the land, saying the issue falls in the domain of the defence minister and who can better brief the house on the issue if the house wants a briefing on it.

FATA Senator Sajjad Toori regretted that heirs of the Parachinar martyrs are being given Rs 300,000 while heirs of those who are killed in terror incidents across the country are given Rs 1.5 million.

“The terror victims from militancy-hit FATA should be given much more compensation and if not, there should be no discrimination with them and at least they should be given Rs1.5 million,” he added.

After getting the sense of the house, the chairman Senate announced that house business advisory committee will initiate negotiations with National Assembly about giving more powers to Senate in light of some amendments made in Senate Rules this year in February.

The Senate passed three unanimous resolutions. The first resolution moved by Chaudhry Tanveer recommended the government to take effective steps for promotion of wind energy in the country.

The second resolution moved by Dr Karim Ahmad Khawaja recommended the government to take effective steps to implement the provision of clause (3) of Article 172 of the Constitution in letter and spirit.

The third resolution by Mohsin Aziz, recommended the government to appoint a minister for the ministry of textile industry to promote the growth of textile exports and sustainability of the textile sector.

Speaking on a motion moved by Azam Khan Swati, the lawmakers said that measures like specification, design, technology and load-management should be taken into consideration for construction of the quality roads.

They said that performance guarantee should be taken from the contractor and he should be held responsible for repairing of the roads for at least five years, adding that strict measures should be taken for elimination of corruption from this sector.

Some of the MPs termed NHA Chairman Shahid Ashraf Tarar responsible for dilapidated condition of the roads despite getting heavy tolls. Col Tahir Mashhadi (retd) went to the extent in saying that the government has institutionalised corruption due to which it has become rampant.

Senator Lt Gen Abdul Qayyum (retd) said that the ruling Sheikh of UAE had standing orders to drag the contractor on the roads by tying him with the excavating machine on the same road in case of any faulty construction, adding it will definitely work in the context of Pakistan.

Concluding the discussion, Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Shaikh Aftab Ahmad had nothing substantial to say except hushing up the things, saying the government is committed to providing the best communication network.

Responding to points of public importance regarding the suspension of mobile phone services in Bajaur and Mohmand Agencies and suspension of internet services in district Qallat, Balochistan, Minister of State for Information Technology and Telecommunication Anusha Rehman said the connection was shut down on the orders of the military due to security reasons.

About administering polio drops to Pakistanis upon their arrival in Saudi Arabia, Sartaj Aziz said that the citizens of a good number of other countries are given polio drops on the special orders of World Health Organization (WHO).

He said as a requirement all the pilgrims reaching Saudi Arabia have to take polio drops and the children who do not have polio certificate are also administered polio drops.

Responding to a point of public importance regarding deportation of staff of Pak-Turk schools from Pakistan, he said that on the request of Turkish government after a failed coup, all the teachers of Turkish schools have been asked to leave.

He said that some of the teachers have already left while some approached the court as they are seeking asylum in a third country, adding the schools will continue to run as new teachers from Turkey have also arrived. Speaking on a point of public importance, Senator Farhatullah Babar of PPPP said that with the kidnapping of two close aides of former President Asif Zardari, a new dimension has been added to the missing persons’ controversy as people are kidnapped for settling political scores with political leaders.

“Until recently, the people were kidnapped and remained without trace for alleged involvement in subversive and anti-state activities, but now political activists are kidnapped which will have serious repercussions,” he warned.

At the start of the proceedings, the House offered Fateha for martyrs of Parachinar blast incident.

Four bills introduced in the House includd: “The Defamation (Amendment) Bill, 2017,” “The Islamabad Capital Territory Shops, Business and Industrial Establishments (Security) (Amendment) Bill, 2017,” “The National Health Care Bill, 2017,” and “The Islamabad Consumers Protection (Amendment) Bill, 2017.” The bills were moved by Muhammad Azam Khan Swati of PTI and were referred to the standing committees concerned for deliberations and report.