Ruckus in Senate over ministers’ absence

Opposition stages walkout, says treasury non-serious in running house business

ISLAMABAD:

The opposition in the Senate on Tuesday staged a walkout from the house as a mark of protest against the absence of ministers to answer their questions.

At the outset, ministers belonging to the ruling party flayed the opposition members for their absence and “nonchalant” behaviour. The sharp criticism set the tone for the rest of the session.

The session, chaired by Deputy Chairman Mirza Afridi, also echoed talk of the presidential system once again, with Minister of State Ali Muhammad Khan suggesting that if the current parliamentary system had been rendered lacklustre, it was worth considering whether it could be replaced with a presidential one."

During the question-answer session, Jamaat-e-Islami Senator Mushtaq Ahmed expressed anger over the absence of ministers.

“Why isn’t the minister here; do they think we have lots of time at our hands,” the JI lawmaker asked. He said the secretaries have also stopped coming to the house, following in the footsteps of their ministers.

Leader of the House Shahzad Wasim said the health ministry doesn’t have a minister but a special assistant. “The special assistants [to prime minister] don’t come to parliament, the ministers answer queries in their stead,” he added.

Read Senate session adjourned due to lack of quorum

At this, the opposition created a ruckus and walked out of the house while also pointing out the quorum. The deputy chairman sent Senator Ijaz Chaudhry and Anwarul Haq to convince the opposition to come back to the house, but that remained an exercise in futility.

The chair was forced to prorogue the session briefly after the quorum was found incomplete. The session resumed after a while with the attendance of the treasury lawmakers only.

After the walkout, Senator Sherry Rehman while speaking to the media said the government was conducting proceedings in the absence of the opposition that had no "legitimacy".

The PPP senator said the government was making a fool of itself by resorting to such practices. “We will conduct our session outside the assembly if the government’s attitude didn’t change,” she added.

During the session, Ali Muhammad Khan informed the Senate the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government would distribute health cards in all the districts of Sindh province soon. He said the government had already distributed health cards among the people in Tharparkar that would not only make life easier for ordinary citizens but also improve the health care system of the country. He said the federal government was also planning to distribute health cards in Hyderabad and Larkana at the earliest.

Eight govt senators in House

As the opposition lawmakers’ boycott continued, the government senators made “hard-hitting” speeches against the opposition. Only eight government senators were present in the house, however, as the opposition lawmakers stayed in the lobby.

During the session, Senator Faisal Javed also irked some of the government senators with his lengthy address.

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PTI Senator Saifullah Abro and Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) Senator Danesh Kumar protested after they didn’t get time to speak during the session.

Abro said, “We don’t get time to speak on issues pertaining to Sindh.” He walked out of the house in protest.

Senator Danesh Kumar, a government ally, also protested the lengthy speech by Senator Javed, saying he too wanted as much time as given to the PTI senator. “The speeches should be within the code of conduct lest the people start hating politicians,” he warned.

Eventually, the Senate session was adjourned till Friday morning.