Senate to meet next week at Opposition's request

• Senate will meet on Dec 30 at opposition's request 
• Opposition had submitted a new request for session after secretariat returned first one
• The senators will also discuss NAB, GB polls and electricity and gas crisis

ISLAMABAD: Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani has summoned a session of the Upper House of Parliament for next week on the request of Opposition lawmakers.

The Opposition says it wants to discuss "political vendetta" against it on December 30. The senators will also talk about recently held Gilgit Baltistan elections and the ongoing electricity and gas crisis.

Opposition leader in the Senate Raja Zafar-ul-Haq said they had submitted a new request after the Senate Secretariat returned down the first one.

It was filed by the Opposition amid Deputy Chairman Senate Saleem Mandviwala's tussle with the NAB chairman.

On Sunday, Mandviwalla had threatened that warrants can be issued to summon anyone before the Senate and if National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Chairman Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal does not appear before the Senate, warrants for him will be issued.

In a press conference, the senator had talked about the list of complaints the Senate has received pertaining to NAB's maltreatment and the failure of political parties to improve the NAB’s ordinance when they had a chance.

The Senate deputy chairman said that NAB is intervening in everything now, including issues related to under-invoicing, and import and import cases, which is not its domain.

"The Senate has received a long list of complaints from businessmen in the United States and Canada, who said that they had to leave the country because NAB harassed them," he said.

He said that NAB has pervasively entered into Pakistan’s society. “NAB tortures people so much that they become helpless to do anything.”

“They force these helpless people to enter into a plea bargain," said the deputy Senate chairman.