Govt, opposition bash each other in NA
In a stunning move, the National Assembly deputy speaker on Wednesday briefly expelled a PPP lawmaker while refusing to accept an apology tendered by former prime minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf on behalf of the party member amid desk-thumping by the treasury benches.
Rejecting the apology and Ashraf’s request to withdraw his ruling, NA Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri stressed that he would not withdraw his order and asked PPP MNA Agha Rafiullah to leave the House – even if for a minute – for creating ruckus and following a spat with him over not being given floor during the session.
Suri and Rafiullah traded barbs to the extent that the NA deputy speaker ordered the sergeant-at-arms to expel Rafiullah – an order that they were reluctant to implement.
“Expel him from the House… he cannot sit in the entire session,” Suri ruled after issuing a warning to PPP lawmaker that he was “getting personal”.
Subsequently, the Suri ordered Rafiullah to leave the session, saying “he impedes the NA proceedings and will not be allowed in”.
At this point, PTI MNA Ali Muhammad stood up to read the rules of the house and asked Rafiullah to leave the House and tender an apology to the chair.
Suri, who was fully backed by the treasury benches, ultimately succeeded in making Rafiullah leave the session as disobeying the chair could have led to his suspension from the House.
The Wednesday session, which was marred by disorder, opposition’s protest and cross-talks, however, had moments when the ruling party’s lawmakers criticised government’s agriculture policy, saying “farmers were dying” because of the policy.
Upon given the floor amid hue and cry, PTI’s Malik Nawab Sher Waseer maintained that “shortage of wheat in an agricultural country is regrettable,” and added “we cannot fulfill wheat’s shortage if we do not change our agricultural policy.”
While admitting that the farmers had been deprived of their rights in the past and were facing the same situation, Waseer said “farmer who is called the backbone [of agriculture] is still being wronged,” and called upon the lawmakers to address their issues.
“We have requested our government last year and we are requesting again to give the farmer better rates for cultivating wheat. The subsidy that was given on fertilisers turned out to be useless. It did not reach the farmers and was devoured midway,” and added “give subsidy directly to the farmers… farmers are dying”.
PML-N’s Khawaja Asif emphasised that agriculture could increase the country’s GDP growth and create employment opportunities but the government had adopted a “farmer-killing policy”.
He pointed out that Pakistan had to bear a loss of over Rs4 billion due to the wrong agriculture policy, adding that common citizens were bearing the brunt of such decisions.
He warned the country could face an acute shortage of wheat if the support price of the commodity was not fixed at Rs2,000 to increase its cultivation.
“Wheat was in surplus two years ago but now it is being imported. Only time will tell which wheat lobby is being protected”.
“We stage a walkout over this low support price of wheat.”
Responding to Asif, Minister for Aviation Ghulam Sarwar Khan clarified that the cabinet had discussed the issue of fixing support price for wheat but a final decision was yet to be taken.
Revealing that Sindh was yet to give its input, Khan remarked that the government was envisaging giving a package to farmers for fertilisers, pesticides and seeds.
PPP’s Abdul Qadir Patel lambasted the prime minister and the ruling party to the extent that the speaker asked to expunge his words used against the premier.
Meanwhile, as the opposition walked out of the House, Federal Minister for Communications and Federal Minister for Postal Services Murad Saeed moved a resolution condemning speeches made at the Pakistan Democratic Movement’s (PDM) recent Quetta rally and for violating Article 251 (national language) of the constitution.
The lower house of the parliament also passed a resolution condemning Tuesday’s suicide attack at a mosque in Peshawar that resulted in the killing of eight madrassa students and leaving than 100 others injured.
In addition, the House also passed PML-N’s Sardar Ayaz Sadiq’s resolution condemning Armenian aggression in Nagorno-Karabakh region of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
To Saeed’s accusations that the opposition parties were demanding an NRO following the Indian agenda and becoming a pawn to an international conspiracy, PPP’s Ashraf regretted that the treasury benches had nothing new to say and added “we are tired of hearing the same things again and again.”
While referring to the 2014 PTI sit-ins in the capital, Ashraf said the government’s labeling of PDM rallies as illegal was ironic, saying “how do you justify your own existence… do not teach us what the law is.”
Clarifying that the PPP had already condemned the controversial statements made at the Quetta rally, the former premier said that “the country does not belong only to you or me, it belongs to the masses.”
He warned the treasury benches against politicising the movement and advised them to refrain from labeling others as traitors.
“You have no right to label someone as a thief. This is the duty of the courts.”
BNP-M chief Akhtar Mengal defended PDM in his speech, saying the discussion on the opposition parties’ alliance proved that the movement was successful.
He observed that much hue and cry had been made on a slogan at PDM rally, adding that “Thank God the slogan was not raised by any Baloch otherwise he would have been hanged by now.”
He said the ruling party was focusing on minor things but was ignoring the major violations of the constitution, such as violation of Article 6, which protected the Constitution of Pakistan.
Mengal asked Saeed to introduce a resolution on Article 6 of the constitution, stating that whosoever violated the Article 6 in judiciary, military or civilian should be publicly hanged, and offered to cast his vote in favour of the resolution.
Mengal reminded the PTI lawmakers that when Hyrbyair Marri – a Baloch nationalist activist – was facing cases of terrorism and separation in UK’s courts, it was the incumbent premier who had submitted a statement in favour of him as a witness before the London’s court.
On Quaid’s mausoleum issue, Mengal thundered on the floor of the House asking if the founder of the country had dreamt of martial laws.
Meanwhile, Federal Minister for Religious Affairs and Inter-faith Harmony Noorul Haq Qadri said he agreed with a decree, which asked the parliamentarians to ponder whether TA/DA and other privileges availed by them were halal or haram if they did not fulfill their responsibilities while attending the sessions.