Frequent warnings to ministers to ensure presence in house go unheeded; Rabbani leaves it to members to decide whether they want him or not; says if he can’t protect the House, then there is no use to work as chairman; opposition stages walkout
ISLAMABAD: In an unprecedented move, Chairman Senate Raza Rabbani on Friday offered to step down, as the government was not ready to ‘accept the constitutional role of the upper house of parliament’ reflected by the absenteeism of its ministers during the proceedings.
The rare offer from Rabbani, who strongly believes in giving due importance to parliament, which must reflect masses’ aspirations and alleviate their problems, came after he found no reply by the ministries concerned to some four questions asked by the senators, while no minister except the state minister for petroleum and natural resources was around.
Absence of ministers from the Senate is a routine matter, against which he had been issuing warnings to them to ensure their presence, but it did not work often despite passage of about two years since he became the chairman of the House, who commands respect from the treasury as well as opposition lawmakers.
The crisis, unleashed due to the chain of developments, further deepened as several senators, belonging to the treasury and opposition benches, also threatened to resign if Rabbani made an exit.
He has been repeatedly pointing out to the government that the Senate was not being given due importance and the ministers often stayed away and ministries tended to offer no reply to written questions.
The opposition lawmakers, including Senator Nisar Muhammad Khan of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and three members of an independent opposition Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP), also staged a walkout, accusing the government of intentionally making the Senate a ‘post office’.
“The Senate is making all-out efforts to play its constitutional role to strengthen the Federation. But, the way I want to run this house, has become impossible. So if anybody has any grudge against me, I am ready to resign,” said Rabbani.
“The situation which the Federation is facing today is quite alarming. The confrontation between the provinces and the Centre is no privy to us all. The Senate tried to play its due role. We resolved 24-points sent to the Senate by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa quite amicably,” he added.
He continued that the KP government had once again written a letter to the Senate, seeking a debate on Fata reforms recently approved by the federal cabinet which, he noted, reflected their trust in the house of Federation.
“We took up the water issue of Sindh and are making efforts for finding a solution to the gas dispute between Sindh and the Centre. In short, we wanted to play our due role, but it seems the government is not ready to accept the constitutional role of the Senate,” he lamented.
Amid walkouts by opposition one after another, Rabbani said he leaves this to the members to decide whether they want him or not, adding if they want him to step down, he would not ‘hesitate even for a single second to call it day’.After these remarks, using his discretionary power, he adjourned the proceedings of the House sine die, whereas the 261th session was expected to continue during next week.
Minister for Law and Justice Zahid Hamid tried to cool down the chairman and assured him that the government would try to find a solution to the problem by calling a meeting of the federal secretaries and the even the ministers. But, the chair turned down his request, saying the issue had been there for more than one years but government paid no heed.
Earlier, during the eventful question hour, when Rabbani resumed the proceedings after suspending it for about 35 minutes, only state minister for water and power joined the state minister for petroleum, while the law minister was summoned by the chair, who, came rushing from the National Assembly.
Speaking on the occasion, the opposition MPs assured full support to the chairman Senate, saying they will stand by him shoulder to shoulder in his struggle to improve the prestige and dignity of the Senate, which the government is bent upon tuning into a ‘debating club’.
Leader of the House Senator Raja Muhammad Zafarul Haq was not present, but contrary to expectations, Nisar Muhammad, a treasury senator from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, said the leadership had hijacked the party and restricted it to Lahore only.
Senator Azam Khan Swati, the parliamentary leader of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), said his party would not return to the House unless the government ensures the presence of its ministers besides giving satisfactory answers to the question asked by the members.
Senator Sardar Azam Mushakhel of PkMAP from Balochistan said his party also stands by the chairman as he is fighting for a stronger federation, which can only be possible if the smaller provinces are given their due rights.
MQM’s Col (R) Syed Tahir Hussain Mashhadi said the government is ignoring the rulings of the Senate chairman, which is an insult to the upper house of parliament and in no way acceptable.
“By doing all this, the government is not only violating rules and procedures, but also the constitution. They [government] have made parliament is joke. We are being forced to take to the street to fulfill our demands, as they don’t want the issues to be resolved in parliament,” he added.
Senator Taj Haider, who is PPP’s parliamentary leader in the Senate, said the issue was much more complicated than what the members stated, as the government wanted to roll back the 18th amendment through such tactics.
“The government has adopted a policy not to give right answers to our questions, and a policy to ignore the rulings of Senate chairman, which will ultimately strengthen the undemocratic forces, and things will become worse if this remained the attitude of the government,” he warned.
Coming out of the House, Rabbani talked to media and said what he had been striving for was the dignity of the Senate and if there were issues regarding his person, these should be brought forward, he was ever prepared to resign. But he would not let anyone undermine the legislature.
“If can’t defend and protect the House, there is no use of staying as chairman,” he asserted. He then left the Parliament House on official vehicle amid reports that he would not be continuing his official work. Asked about his planned visit to Iran, he said at the moment he was not clear but apparently, after proroguing the Senate this way, he might not leave Pakistan.
In a brief media chat, the senators fully backed Rabbani and said what he did was totally justified, as he had introduced so many reforms to strengthen the Senate and enhance its role in the scheme of the Federation.
