PPP leader ignites row over key Senate slot
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) stalwart Raza Rabbani on Tuesday questioned the “hasty” nomination of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) Senator Maulana Ghafoor Haideri as Senate opposition leader and called for its review.
“You took a decision in haste ... I think it should be reviewed,” Rabbani said while addressing Senate Chairman Farooq H Naek.
He called for a separate debate in the house on the nomination.
Haideri’s controversial nomination continued to overshadow the budget debate in the upper house, with the move coming under increasingly sharp criticism.
The debate on the issue got so intense that the house could not take up the discussion on the budget which it was supposed to begin from Monday. And with members from the opposition parties other than JUI-F demanding a separate debate on the nomination, it appears hardly likely that the Senate might discuss the budget anytime soon.
Naek appointed Haideri as the Senate opposition leader on Monday, drawing immediate protest from all opposition parties other than JUI-F at the start of budget debate.
The slot of opposition leader, previously held by PML-Q’s Wasim Sajjad, was vacant since his resignation last month after his party decided to join the ruling coalition at the centre led by the PPP.
But several developments between Sajjad’s resignation and Haideri’s nomination appeared to muddle the process and the appointment on Monday was promptly called into question by all opposition groups besides JUI-F.
Support for Ishaq Dar
According to estimates, the collective strength of parties backing PML-N’s Ishaq Dar for the slot was greater than that of the JUI-F nominee, making the PML-N nominee a stronger candidate.
Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), with three members in the house, also supported Dar for the opposition leader’s position.
But Naek, who is empowered to take the final decision in the nomination of opposition leader, apparently ignored all of that and notified Haideri.
After voicing his criticism, Leader of the House in the Senate Nayyer Bokhari said the decision would be looked into afresh, but did not commit to changing it.
Senator Dar said more members were backing him for the opposition leader’s slot and it was surprising that somebody else was nominated instead.
Absenteeism mars NA budget debate
The National Assembly witnessed absenteeism on second day of debate on the federal budget as Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Sheikh and a large number of MPs from all parties did not show up for the session here on Tuesday.
The budget debate, which is attended by finance ministry officials, is an exercise through which members from treasury and oppositions benches float their suggestions for amendments to the finance bill.
Newly re-appointed minister for overseas Pakistanis Dr Farooq Sattar of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) said that “no one from finance ministry was present in the gallery to take notes during the debate.”
Recapitulating economic indicators of last three years, Sattar said that growth rate had been less than three per cent whereas inflation remained in double digits throughout the period.
“The government has taken too little steps” in the budget, he said, adding that the reason Pakistan is forging ahead to attain the title of a failed state is because of the privileged class.
In his speech, Sattar used the word “plunderer” for the rulers but it was expunged from the proceedings on PPP leader Nadeem Afzal’s request to the speaker, despite a protest by Haider Abbas Rizvi and Khawaja Saad Rafiq.
‘Hostage to establishment’
Khawaja Asif of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz said the house had been a ‘hostage’ to establishment for the last three years, referring to the unanimous resolution adopted by the Parliament in the wake of Abbottabad incident.
“This house has literally become dysfunctional,” since non-implementation of parliamentary resolution is tantamount to subversion of the constitution, he said.
Citing incidents of security lapse including the attack on GHQ, the Abbottabad operation and the attack on PNS Mehran, he said “Rs800 billion has been allocated for defence but our institutions are unable to do the required job.”
Targets without plans
Jahangir Tareen, a former federal minister, said the government had presented an ambitious plan but had not achieved any of the targets identified in the last budget.
He dispelled the impression that agriculturists were not ready to pay taxes, adding that 80 per cent of the farmers in the country owned less than 25 acres of land.
He expressed surprise over government’s plan to meet targets with no strategy to overcome the energy shortage.
With additional reporting by Qamar Zaman
Published in The Express Tribune, June 8th, 2011.
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