Tardy house lumbers through budget debate

Hardly enough members in house to ensure quorum in Monday’s sitting.

ISLAMABAD: Budget sessions have never been interesting to report on. Except the first day when the finance minister presents budget for the new financial year, the arguments in subsequent sessions hardly stick to the actual money bill.

While the current session is no exception either, it started a little differently with neither the government nor opposition showing interest in attending the session.

Following the empty treasury benches on Friday, when Finance Minister Ishaq Dar presented he Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz government’s fourth money bill, the situation worsened on Monday when the lower house assembled after a two-day recess.

Though there is a precedent that the government makes sure that it keeps the treasury benches heavy during budget sessions, this time there were hardly enough members in the house to make the quorum (minimum number is 76 to run the House).

After pointing out quorum, opposition volunteered to rescue the government in running the House. The two sides agreed to call their respective members to meet the minimum number.

Call it “friendly” opposition or chicanery of mainstream parties in parliament, but the Opposition lost another opportunity to embarrass the government. Though symbolic, it is a strong and uncompromising opposition that keeps the government on its toes.

Not only did the session start off with low attendance, it lacked substance as well. Leader of Opposition Syed Khursheed Shah, considered one of the most senior parliamentarians, was looked to set the tone of the debate with his speech. But his two and half hours long monologue was colloquial and circumlocutory.

He criticised government policies without offering remedies or alternatives.

The champions of democracy and “paar-liament”, the way Shah pronounces it, praised his party’s ‘illustrious’ five-year term in government. But he could only point to Benazir Income Support Programme as an example to back his claim.

He concluded his speech by bringing up three pending items of the charter of democracy which the PPP and PML-N had signed back in 2006 while their leadership was in exile. These were passing of anti-corruption law, setting up of truth and reconciliation commission and setting up of separate Court to deal with constitutional matter.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 7^th, 2016.