Railways Minister Azam Swati told the upper house of parliament on Thursday the officials involved in the encroachment of the railway land would be sent on forced retirement, while the opposition criticised the government for tabling the bill about Senate vote in the National Assembly.
The session was chaired by Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani. During the proceedings, the government side made it clear that the opposition would not be given the NRO – a reference to the political amnesty granted through the National Reconciliation Ordinance in 2007.
The railways minister said that police and railways officials involved in the encroachment of the railway land would now be sent on forced retirement. He added that since his becoming the railways minister, encroached land worth Rs10 billion had been vacated.
The opposition criticised the government’s move to introduce a bill in National Assembly to change Senate election procedure without consulting the upper house. “Everyone wants to stop horse trading,” senior PPP leader Raza Rabbani said. “But it does not mean that bills are imposed.”
Sherry Rehman referred to the defeated no-confidence motion against the Senate chairman, saying that when it happened the ruling party did not object. “We want the election to be transparent. If you want to change the Senate election procedure, take everyone into confidence,” she added.
Leader of the House Dr Shehzad Waseem said that the use money in the Senate election was “a fact”. He added that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) wanted the election transport. “We have also sought the opinion of the Supreme Court in this regard.
Senator Faisal Javed showed a document, saying that the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) have demanded NRO in writing. “The opposition should play the role of constructive opposition and support legislation in the public interest,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Senate Secretariat Services Amendment Bill 2021 was unanimously passed, while the State Minister Ali Muhammad Khan introduced a bill for the establishment of the Pakistan Single Window of the ministry of finance. The chair referred the bill to the relevant committee.
The Senate chairman expressed displeasure the interior ministry’s replies to the members’ questions were not provided in time. Later, Dilawar Khan, Mir Kabir Shahi, Senator Mushtaq and others took part in the debate on the presidential address to parliament.
They said that the president did not mention hunger, unemployment and inflation in his speech. They were also critical of the government’s foreign police, saying that no country was with Pakistan today, while the country continues to remain in the grey list of Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
They stressed the need for preparing a charter of economy, charter of democracy, charter of accountability to take the country forward. Later, Ashok Kumar pointed out the lack of quorum, therefore, the session was adjourned indefinitely.
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