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Friday March 29, 2024

System getting jolts, rulers must reform: Rabbani

By Mumtaz Alvi
September 15, 2017

ISLAMABAD: Expressing extreme displeasure at the absence of ministers in the House, Chairman Senate Mian Raza Rabbani on Thursday remarked that the Senate should be shut down if ministers were not serious about attending the proceedings.

“I shut this House: some ministers are abroad, others are in Quetta, Lahore and elsewhere. This is parliament. This is the Senate. This is not Rajwara. I don’t come here to hold kutchery. Raja Sahab please tell me by tomorrow if the government is not serious,” said Rabbani, addressing the Leader of the House Raja Muhammad Zafarul Haq, who fully agreed with him that parliament should be given utmost importance.

Haq said the House should be given top priority adding there could be an exception for a day or two in a year.The PML-N senator admitted that when he came in, there was none present. He also agreed with the chair what else could be more important than attending the House proceedings.

“If a minister is not available, there should be an alternative arrangement. I shall take care of it,” he assured Rabbani.It all started with the Question-Hour during which only one question was disposed of while the rest, including 31 questions pertaining to the Ministry of Interior, were sought in writing to be deferred by the minister.

MQM Senator Tahir Hussain Mashhadi conducted the Question-Hour and also passed remarks in this connection.The Question-Hour lasted for about 40 minutes and after reading leave applications, Rabbani complained about the absence of ministers. He noted that there were 31 questions for the Ministry of Interior, having a federal and state minister, but both were out of the city despite knowing that the National Assembly and the Senate were in session and rota day was fixed for the day. At least one minister was supposed to be around, he added.

Then again, he said another minister, whose questions were  part of the Question-Hour, had informed that he would not be available; these should be deferred and Minister for informed that he would not be available; these should be deferred and Minister for Narcotics Control Salahuddin Tirmizi, who’s quite regular, at the last-minute, wanted the related questions deferred.        

Without naming Minister for Information Technology Ms. Anusha Rehman, he said the attitude towards the chair witnessed three days earlier in the House was improper, after he saw verbatim and he could have taken action, but he did not.

Rabbani continued after asking the foreign minister, important issues related to his ministry were listed on the agenda Wednesday, but he handed over a brief to the law minister despite being present in the country that was also accepted.

“After these five-six incidents, I am running out of patience. Raja Sahab please talk to the ministers that this attitude is not correct. Such attitude weakens Parliament and system receives jolts. The rulers had better reform them,” Rabbani remarked.

Yet again, when PTI Senator Mohsin Aziz moved a calling attention notice regarding the uncontrolled line losses, alarming figure of circular debt Rs800 billion and rolling over of commercial bank loans worth Rs193 billion to settle power sector arrears after not being able to repay its debts, neither federal nor the state minister was available to reply to it. Senator Aziz alleged that circular debt was a death trap and a term used to hide corruption and mismanagement.   

“Yes sir, there are two ministers of the Ministry of Energy and I was told they are in Lahore. I don’t know what they are doing there,” replied Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sh. Aftab Ahmad, when Rabbani asked what the two ministers were doing in Lahore. 

Rabbani said if they were not serious about running Parliament, then he should shut the House. And when he took up the last item on the orders of the day: ‘ministerial response on the point of public importance on onion crop in Balochistan, as claimed by Senators Mir Kabeer and kalsoom Perveen on September 11’, the House was told that the minister for national food security was abroad.

“Raja Sahab, you tell me…as the item was called, there was a message from the minister that he was abroad,” Rabbani said and then adjourned the sitting till Friday morning. Earlier, referring to the question hour, PPP Senator Farhatullah Babar tossed the idea that as just one question was disposed of during the question hour, it should be made record of the Guinness Book of World Records. 

He complained his written questions pertaining to Ehsanullah Ehsan and Jaish-e-Muhammad were ‘ignored’.               Minister for Defence Khurram Dastagir informed the House through a written answer that the Ministry of Defence and its attached departments had signed eight agreements with foreign countries during the last five years, which included Bosnia, Romania, Turkey, Russia, Sri Lanka, Kazakhstan, China and Norway.     

Challenging Dastagir, Farhatullah Babar asked why not the written answer included information about sale of JF-Thunders to Myanmar and training of Afghan cadets at PMA Kakul and agreements with the US and pointed out five years back, JF-Thunder was not available.

The minister rose to express his ignorance about the training of Afghan cadets and said the Ministry of Defence Production would be in a position to respond about the military equipment.

Rabbani also directed the cabinet secretary to place the summary on withdrawal of initial summary on conversion of leased 1,400 acres of land at the disposal of National Agriculture Research Centre (NARC) on the agenda of the next cabinet meeting and the House be informed accordingly.     

Reading out directions, Rabbani noted that the Committee on Rules of Procedure and Privileges had held a number of meetings on that motion but could not finalise the same, as the CADD Division had informed that the summary for withdrawal of initial summary was lying with the Cabinet Division for presentation before the Cabinet for approval. 

He said the directions should be communicated to the cabinet secretary.

The House has indulged the government sufficiently in this matter as every now and then; the Committee on Privileges has deferred the matter and given ample time to the government to have the summary approved by the cabinet. As that is not forthcoming, therefore, I am constrained to direct the cabinet secretary to place the summary on the agenda of the next meeting of the cabinet and the House be informed accordingly.

The matter is also seized before the Supreme Court whereon the last date of hearing, the Council for the CDA had sought time and the matter is now fixed for a date in office. 

The possession of the land continues to be with the NARC. Sir, this is the position in terms of the report according to your directions to give a monthly report in each session.

PML-Q Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed had moved an adjournment motion in the House regarding conversion of 1,400 acres of land leased out to NARC into residential and commercial plots on 4th August, 2015. 

After discussion on the adjournment motion, the matter was referred to the Standing Committee on National Food Security and Research with the directions to submit a report within a period of one month.

The Standing Committee on National Food Security and Research considered the issue and presented a very comprehensive report in the House on October 7, 2015. 

The report was considered and adopted by the House in terms of Rule 196 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Senate, 2012 on 11-11-2015.

In accordance with the provisions of sub-Rule (3) of Rule 196 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Senate, 2012, the decision of the House was communicated to the ministry concerned including the Chairman, CDA on 16-11-2015.

The quarters considered neither implemented the recommendations of the committee adopted by the House nor informed the House of the reasons for not implementing the recommendations in terms of sub-Rule (3) of Rule 196 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Senate, 2012 and thus the recommendations became binding on the government.