ISLAMABAD: One of the most dynamic political moves that PPPP President Asif Ali Zardari made in recent times was to nominate Mian Raza Rabbani as Senate chairman as this close confidante of Benazir Bhutto was elected unopposed.
One cannot remember any other recent positive political decision of Zardari, and Rabbani is proving day by day that he intends to run the Upper House in a manner which will strengthen democracy, the Constitution and in turn Senate, which gives equal representation to all federating units. Together with Senator Sherry Rehman and Senator Farhatullah Babar and some other PPP senators, it will not be easy sailing for the Nawaz Sharif government which now treats foreign and defence policy as its personal fiefdom. Both these Senators when they rise on their feet take up issues that the PPP led by Ms Bhutto was very passionate about.
“What has happened to the 15 committees that were announced after the APC on the NAP,” Senator Rehman questioned recently. “Why has Nacta not been funded in the budget or taken seriously. Why are banned terrorist groups being allowed to re-surface in parts of Punjab with different names,” she asked.
Senator Rehman said that the battle against terrorism and extremism could not just be outsourced to the military.
If Ms Bhutto were present in the Upper House, she would have thumped the desk loudly when Senator Farhatullah rose to ask recently how effective the security establishment or the judiciary would be without an effective Right to Information (RTI) law.
He asked on the floor of the house, “As long as the sacred cows syndrome persists, accountability will remain a pipe dream. The notion of some institutions carrying out accountability through internal mechanisms was a myth, the fallacy of which has been more than exposed,” he said.
With the office of Foreign Minister still being held by Nawaz Sharif, it is a clear indication that either there is no one capable in his cabinet or that he trusts no one.
These past a few days saw Chairman Rabbani asserting the power of the Senate when he put Adviser to PM on Foreign Policy Sartaj Aziz on the mat regarding the recent visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi accompanied by his top aides to Jati Umrah and his meeting with Nawaz Sharif with a lone representative of the government, Foreign Secretary Aizaz Chaudhury being present.
Sartaj Aziz himself was absent from the meeting but had earlier been briefed by his foreign secretary but despite this Senate chairman and opposition senators were not satisfied with his explanation.
Though Sartaj Aziz asserted that Nawaz Sharif and Modi had met five times in the recent past, there was no statement whether the two prime ministers had driven back from Jati Umrah in the same car for Lahore airport, and whether any views were exchanged.
Again on the recent foreign policy decisions taken by Army Chief General Raheel Sharif in Kabul, on the insistence of opposition members was also taken up by Senate chairman who was impatient with Sartaj Aziz’ explanation that the ISPR had already issued a statement on the army chief’s visit and that further information could be provided by the defence minister.
“If the foreign ministry has abdicated the talks with Kabul to the Ministry of Defence, I will talk to the defence minister,” the chair remarked.
Earlier, on the wishy-washy manner, the Nawaz Sharif government was trying to explain the government’s decision to join the Saudi-led 34-country coalition against terrorism, Sartaj Aziz had pleaded that Pakistan was still unaware of the full details of this coalition and discussion on the floor of the House was premature and would further complicate the matter.
The chair reminded the adviser that he was present and discussing the issue in Parliament, which was the forum for discussing such issues.“So you have joined a military alliance about which you are still foggy,” the Senate chairman remarked.
Though the chairman like some former PPP speakers in the Lower House displayed time and time again that he was above party politics, the Sharif government might avoid the media on issues of foreign and defence matters, but there was no escaping the symbol of the four federating units.
