Mandviwalla opposes ban on Fawad’s entry in Senate

Urges parliamentarians not to opt for such steps

ISLAMABAD: Senate Deputy Chairman Saleem Mandviwalla has opposed the restrictions placed on Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry to enter the upper house of parliament.

Addressing a news conference on Thursday, Mandviwalla said, “As a deputy chairman, I cannot agree with imposing a restriction on anyone’s entry into the Senate. We are all parliamentarians and we should not impose restrictions on anyone’s entry.”

He lamented that Mushahidullah Khan’s statements and Fawad Chaudhry’s response had aggravated the matter beyond control in the Senate.

He urged the house not to see a situation where the chairman was forced to announce restriction on anyone’s entry.

The whole opposition had demanded that the information minister be banned from entering the Senate, but “I will talk to Fawad Chaudhry and try to persuade him to continue coming to the Senate”.

To a question, he ruled out any conflict with the Senate chairman, saying replacement of the chairman would be a political decision between two parties. “Everything is possible in politics. Imran Khan said that he will hold elections within three months so everything is possible,” he said. “The prime minister says that he had no knowledge about the change in the dollar’s price, while the finance minister says that he did inform him.

“The State Bank had definitely consulted the federal government before making the decision.”



“We are laying the foundation of self-sponsored foreign trips,” said Mandviwalla, adding that a four-member parliamentary delegation, headed by him, was visiting Moscow to attend a conference on December 11.

“All members of the delegation will personally bear their travelling expenditures,” he said. “The government or the Senate will not bear the cost of the official visit.”

“The conference will see discussions pertaining to parliamentary procedures in the modern world and is being attended by delegates from many countries,” he said. Besides him, the Pakistani delegation includes Dr Ashok Kuman, Mohsin Aziz and Dilawar Khan.

He hoped that Pakistan would host this conference in the coming years.