Rabbani agrees to return to Senate

Dar assures Senate chairman govt will ensure minist¬ers attend sittin¬gs

ISLAMABAD: A federal minister has won over Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani, who stormed out of the session on Friday, saying he would resign if the government ministers didn’t change their attitude vis-à-vis the upper house of parliament.

Talking to reporters after a meeting with Rabbani on Saturday, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said the Senate chairman has agreed to resume his work and to call a sitting of the upper house on Monday. “Rabbani will direct his secretariat to issue a notification in this regard.”

Dar said he has delivered the prime minister’s assurance that the government would improve bureaucratic hiccups that keep the ministers and government departments from replying to senators’ queries to Rabbani.



The premier also assured the Senate chairman that the government would make sure the ministers maximise their presence in both houses of parliament during sessions.

Rabbani, in an unprecedented move on Friday, adjourned proceedings of the upper house indefinitely and threatened to quit in protest against the ‘stubborn attitude’ of the government and persistent absence of ministers.



He lost his cool when he found that relevant ministries had not furnished answers to questions submitted by lawmakers.

“The Senate is trying to play its constitutional role to strengthen the federation. But, it has become impossible for me to run the house,” he lamented.

Subsequent to meeting with Dar, the Senate chairman has reconvened the upper house session on April 17.