Opp stages walkout on looters’ ehtesab, says Fawad

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad Hussain on Friday said whenever the matter concerning ehtesab of looters came up, the opposition staged walkout.

He said that the ‘confession’ of Taimur Talpur regarding horse-trading was a wake-up call for the Election Commission of Pakistan.

Talking to journalists here, the minister emphasised that the Election Commission would have to wake up on this issue of horse-trading in Senate elections. He called for changing the mode of elections for the Senate. “Whenever there is talk on a thief or a dacoit, the opposition stages walk out from the legislature. Whoever is held on corruption charges, he says he is being victimised. PIA and Pakistan Steel Mills have been ruined. Pakistan Television and Radio Pakistan are in a bad shape,” he claimed.

The minister said that political parties had tainted politicians and wondered why the opposition would raise hue and cry over action against dacoits. He pointed out PPP had confessed to horse-trading in the Senate elections. “When time comes to hand dacoits, opposition starts agitation. It appears there is a feel of guilt in their heart,” he alleged.

He charged political workers were inducted in different state-owned entities, who did nothing, except drawing their salaries. He alleged that former minister for railways Khawaja Saad Rafique had given jobs to scores of party workers in the railways, who never worked but drew their salaries. Opposition in the Senate came hard on Information and Broadcasting Minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain for his statement in the National Assembly on Thursday and insisted he be barred from the Senate for a month, as a visibly angry PML-N Senator Mushahidullah Khan moved a privilege motion against him in the House.

The House proceedings were also marred by absence of ministers concerned, whose business was listed on the orders of the day. Opposition senators stormed out of the Senate to agitate their absence. PML-N senator Muhammad Javed Abbasi first raised the matter. Leader of the House Syed Shibli Faraz expressed solidarity with Mushahidullah, as he was hurt and said he had the right to whatever parliamentary tool in this connection. He also said he was sorry about the ministers, who should have been in the House.

However, Senator Mushahidullah resorted to massive verbal thrashing on the minister, who was not around. “Is he the Minister of State of Madina or Shah Rangila,” he wondered. He also substantiated his onslaught with poetry, which was expunged by Chairman Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani.

Some senators on the treasury benches tried to calm down the senator, but they failed in their effort. At one stage, PML-N senator insisted that Prime Minister Imran Khan would have to remove him as minister, who did not reflect what he was saying. He did not listen to the treasury senators that the minister had already apologised in the National Assembly.

Unlike past practices, the Chair informed Senator Mushahidullah that he would give his ruling on privilege motion in his chamber, as it was about member of the other House, ignoring his repeated requests the matter be referred to the House privileges committee and Fawad be summoned to prove his allegations that he got his brother and cousin posted on senior positions in PIA. He claimed they suffered because of his political position.

The information minister during the speech in the National Assembly on Thursday levelled the allegations on Mushahidullah while criticising both PPP and PML-N past governments for the problems was confronted today.

PML-N senator maintained that the minister’s information was based on lies and denied that he used to be a loader in PIA and said that he was traffic supervisor and never sought promotion, he was doing union politics. “I had done BA LLB when Fawad had not still come to this world,” he remarked.

He called on the minister to either prove the allegations against him or apologise to the House, as he had committed breach of the House, otherwise they would not let the House hold proceedings. PML-N senator pointed out that the minister called PPP thieves and dacoits, whereas he own served as governor under PPP rule and hence he did not make these uttering for PPP; he did so for himself in fact.

Mushahidullah informed the academic qualifications of his brothers and sisters and recalled how during union election at Gordon College, Qamar Javed Bajwa had voted for his brother, who was general secretary of the union. To this, MQM-Pakistan Senator Mian Attique Sheikh added that he had also voted for his brother.

Earlier, PML-N’s Javed Abbasi contended that the minister should be banned from attending the Senate for a month. “Is this the attitude of ministers in an Islamic welfare state?” he wondered and said that what Fawad uttered about a senator, who is obviously not member of that House, could not be mentioned even privately.

He urged the chair to take notice of this matter, as being custodian of the House, it was his responsibility to regulate things. “A great injustice was done on Thursday in the National Assembly, when a minister used highly derogatory language, which can’t be repeated,” he maintained.

Sanjrani told the House that he along with Leader of the House went to the NA Speaker and took up this matter there.

PPP Senator Mola Bux Chandio stated, “some ministers are part of the incumbent government to cause destruction. Some such ministers are got inducted in every government”.

He cautioned, “if you mock opposition members then we will not let you go easily. “We will not hurl abuses at you but will definitely respond”. He recalled how they (PTI) used to say from containers and during public meetings to post right people at right places while questioning Fawad.

The PPP senator said they wanted to give time to the government so that fruits of democracy should reach masses, but there was destruction at the very beginning. He called on the government to review its policy of reshuffle of secretaries, who were posted at incumbent posts a few weeks back.

On his request, the matter was referred to the House Standing Committee concerned.

Meanwhile, former interior minister Rehman Malik said in the Senate that Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi was urged to make a statement in the House on why he failed to respond to the points raised by his Indian counterpart at the UN General Assembly.

Former interior minister PPP Senator Abdul Rehman Malik charged the minister went to the UN Assembly without listening to the House, and therefore, he had to face embarrassment there on issues, like terrorism. “Whereas, Indian Premier Modi is the chief terrorist and regular member of RSS,” he asserted.

He wondered why the minister could not take on India with regards to its acts of terrorism in Balochistan and atrocities in Occupied Kashmir and across the Line of Control. He also decried what he called the media trial of his party leadership in clear violation of the Supreme Court directions in this connection, as probes were still underway.

Senator Malik called it character assassination of PPP leadership on media and elsewhere and wanted the matter be referred to the House committee concerned and the chair accordingly ordered and referred the matter to the House committee.

Another PPP Senator Behramnd Tangi reminded the PTI government that how its Chairman and now Prime Minister Imran Khan repeatedly announced having banned issuance of permits to Arab royals to hunt precious birds in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

“Is not it a U-turn that the government has allowed 150 falcons for UAE Vice-President Muhammad Rashid al-Maktoom to be transported tomorrow from Karachi,” he claimed.

Sassui Palijo of PPP rose to reiterate the deep reservations Sindh had about the proposal to give citizenship to refugees and said they would not allow this to happen.

PML-N Senator Chaudhry Tanvir Khan said that the rigging in 2018 elections was an international conspiracy against Pakistan and alleged the rulers’ policies did not appear to be moving beyond the auction of buffaloes. At this point, Leader of Opposition Raja Muhammad Zafarul Haq said that there was useless to make speeches on the budget, when the House was almost empty and without a single minister.

To this, the chair asked where the Leader of the House and the ministers were. Chairman Senate Sadiq Sanjrani directed the government to explain on Monday why the Secretary Finance was absent during the debate on the budget, which is mandatory under Senate rules.

Expressing anger over the absence of Finance Secretary and instead sending low grade officers from the Ministry to take notes of the lawmakers, debating the mini-budget, he said that if the Secretary Finance was busy, he should have sent here an officer no less than the rank of Additional Secretary.

“I will not allow this to happen again and directed the Senate Secretariat to issue notice to secretary finance, seeking explanation for his absence and not deputing an officer of an additional secretary level to take point during the debate on mini-budget. Tell him [secretary finance] to give explanation by Monday,” he declared.

PML-N Senator Chaudhry Tanveer pointed out the quorum after the opposition walkout from the Senate. The chairman ordered to ring the quorum bells for five minutes but still the House was found to lack quorum requirement of 26 senators. The chair adjourned the House till Monday at 3:00 pm.