Sherry berates PTI for interfering in military appointment

ISLAMABAD: Criticising the PTI for interfering in key military appointments, Minister for Climate Change Senator Sherry Rehman said on Friday that by summoning the president to Lahore, PTI Chairman Imran Khan tried to give an impression that he was still relevant in politics.

“Instead of provision of relief for flood victims, the PTI is bringing the container to Islamabad,” said Sherry while speaking on the floor of the National Assembly on Friday.

“Do they have any understanding of the sufferings of people as millions of people are affected by the floods,” the minister asked.

Senator Sherry Rehman said Imran Khan had also made his president controversial, adding, “Former President Asif Ali Zardari was given notices by the court saying that he could not meet workers.”

Sherry Rehman said the resources will be distributed in the flood-affected areas without any discrimination and without any political affiliation.

Meanwhile, raising a point of order, Ghous Bakhsh Mehr said the flood aid is being given on the basis of likes and dislikes in Sindh. In addition, Hashim Khan Natuzai, MNA from Balochistan, said the flood destroyed 0.2 million houses in Balochistan, damaged 0.5 million acres of crops, killed 0.5 million livestock and inundated road infrastructure.

“People of Balochistan did not get anything except tents and food,” he said and demanded for waiving off the electricity bills for at least one year.

Responding to a point of order, Defence Minister Khwaja Muhammad Asif assured the house that the relief to flood victims in Sindh and Balochistan would be provided without political discrimination.

The government would fulfil its responsibility for the provision of assistance and compensation to the flood-hit people.

“There should not be any discrimination in aid to the flood victims and I will also talk to the prime minister in this regard,” he said, adding the issue should be raised in the cabinet, so that the complaint of discrimination in aid should be removed.

The minister said the flood has caused enormous damage to crops, adding there is a fear of food shortage in the country.

The defence minister said the biggest issue is those living under the open sky. The weather is getting colder and it is the responsibility of the government to provide shelter to the victims before things get worse.

The minister also lamented that it was a flaw of our political culture that the funds were provided only to the candidate of the winning party for development schemes while the candidate of the opposition party was not entertained equally.

He said he had experienced the biased practice during the PTI government, which did not provide even a single penny to the members of opposition benches.

He said despite limited resources, the incumbent government has provided cash assistance to the flood-affected people. In addition, the farmers were given the Kissan Package.

Giving the ruling, Deputy Speaker Zahid Akram Durrani said that the federal and provincial governments should utilise all the resources for the rehabilitation of flood-affected areas of Balochistan and the government should pay attention to their sufferings.