Opposition slams govt in Senate for delaying NFC Award

 Sartaj says Pakistani transgender dies of heart attack in S Arabia

ISLAMABAD: The opposition in the Senate on Tuesday slammed the government for being ‘non-serious and deliberately’ delaying the new award of the National Finance Commission, calling it a sheer violation of the Constitution.

On the contrary, Petroleum and Natural Resources Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, who was speaking on behalf of the finance minister, said that the NFC Award would be announced with consensus among the provinces and insisted there was nothing unconstitutional about it, as it had been witnessed in the past as well.

He was responding to a calling attention notice, moved by PPP Senators Sassui Palijo and Mukhtar Ahmad Dhamra, who alleged the government was following a policy of weakening the Federation by denying what belonged to the provinces under the NFC.

The PPP senators emphasised that without the judicious share of the provinces under the award, the budget would be hollow, as already despondency was spreading among the three smaller provinces, which continued to suffer for the last two years and had been demanding of the Centre to announce a new NFC Award.

“The NFC in the Constitution is a basic element of the federal system. Therefore, the commission must announce the award early, as it is the right of the provinces to make their budgets keeping in view their share in NFC,” he noted.

The minister argued that a commission was already working on the reports of the working groups but he insisted that the life of an NFC Award was five years, however, NFC Award announcement was not mandatory and would be made public after evolving consensus on it. Later, Advisor to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz informed the Senate that the cause of death of a Pakistani transgender Muhammad Amin in Saudi Arabia was cardiac arrest.

He said the Saudi authorities had raided the guest houses from where 35 people, including some transgender people, were arrested. “Our Community Attaché immediately contacted the Saudi authorities and 29 persons were released while five were under investigation,” he noted.

“He died during custody and we have asked for the medical report to ascertain whether he bore any kind of torture,” he maintained. The adviser said the transgender had been living in Saudi Arabia illegally, and was also involved in illegal and immoral activities that made the authorities to arrest him.

The chair feared that physical beating could be the reason of heart attack and that he was a Pakistani citizen.  However, Rabbani observed that he could not send the matter to the committee, but if the committee so desired it could take up the issue.