A file photo of Defence Minister Khawaja Asif. PHOTO: REUTERS
“...I am left with no alternative but to declare that the minister for defence will not attend the proceedings of the Senate for the remaining portion of this session,” Rabbani announced on Thursday in a ruling given in light of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Senate.
The chairman said that exercising extreme caution and restraint while dealing with absence of ministers from the house resulted in businesses being obstructed. He referred to rulings and warnings issued on April 20, May 5, May 14 and November 10 of last year. “I cannot allow this house to become hostage to one person.”
Asif is the first minister to have been banned from the upper house of parliament, though others have been issued warnings.
The minister was supposed to wind up a debate regarding Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif’s visit to Afghanistan, and he was present during the question hour, but later he slipped away to attend some other ‘engagement’ and sent State Minister for Water and Power Abid Sher Ali to take notes on the debate.
Rabbani said it was ‘unacceptable’, and suspended the proceedings for 10 minutes, but members of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz could not ‘trace’ Asif.
PML-N’s Mushahidullah Khan, Iqbal Zafar Jhagra and Chaudhry Tanveer and the National Party’s Mir Hasil Bizenjo tried to persuade the chairman to conduct the debate in Asif’s absence, but to no avail.
When the ruling party’s senators requested allowing the power minister to wind up the debate, Rabbani said ‘this [subject] is not a joke’ and asked how he would be able to respond to any questions when he has no information on the ‘very technical’ subject.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Peoples Party’s Taj Haider posed a different question: “Has the ISPR asked the minister not to attend the Senate?” Rabbani cut him off, saying: “This is a serious matter.”
He also rejected Abid Sher Ali’s proposal that Asif would give his response in writing, saying: “I cannot allow such practices, as it defeats the very essence of parliamentary democracy, which is tantamount to degrading the house and its members. I cannot, as the custodian of the house, stand as a silent spectator and allow obstruction of business of the house and violation of a chain of rulings [by the chairman].”
The absence of the minister was not the only issue the ruling party faced, as opposition leader Aitzaz Ahsan questioned the veracity of Asif’s statement about the army chief’s visit on December 31.
“The defence minister should tell whether his statement was based on hearsay or the army chief had himself briefed him,” Ahsan said while issuing a warning of not participating in the debate if the minister was briefed by anyone other than the army chief.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 22nd, 2016.
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