Govt under fire in Senate for ‘swollen’ cabinet

Absence of ministers from upper house irks lawmakers

ISLAMABAD:

The continuous absence of federal ministers and PM’s aides from parliament annoyed senators on Friday, who ridiculed the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM)-led government for maintaining an oversized cabinet at a time when the country was struggling with its financial woes.

The prime minister on Wednesday announced the inclusion of seven special assistants, bringing the cabinet’s size to an unwieldy figure of 85.

Speaking in the upper house during the Question Hour, Jamaat-e-Islami Senator Mushtaq Ahmed criticised the move to add five more ministers to the cabinet, bringing their total to 88.

 “It seems that by March, the century of the ministers will be completed,” he added.

He quipped that the prime minister would have to appoint a separate minister for counting the rest of them, adding that it was the “biggest” cabinet in the world.

He grilled the new cabinet members for remaining absent from the Senate proceedings and demanded that the chairman should write to the prime minister to take notice of their negligence.

The senator regretted that the newly appointed ministers were unfamiliar to him and other members of the House.

“We don’t even know them. None of the ministers added to the cabinet have recently appeared in the Senate sessions,” he added.

Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani directed the secretary of the upper house's secretariat to write to the prime minister to inform him that his ministers had not attended the Senate session.

The JI senator referring to his question said the Guns and Country Club (GCC) audit comprised 88 paras which should be briefed in detail since its inception in 2018 till 2022.

Minister of State for Law Shahadat Awan in his response said the Supreme Court had taken up the issue of the GCC.

He added that all matters related to the GCC were managed by the SC, which had ordered a special audit of the club.

The GCC chairman had appointed AF Ferguson to conduct the audit, the minister of state told the House.

Awan also said GCC Committee Member Naeem Bokhari had also given his terms of reference (TORs) for the audit.

“This entire audit has been conducted by AF Ferguson. It is all monitored under the supervision of the SC. The House is requested to avoid intervening in the matters of other departments,” he added.

The minister of state said the agenda item should be referred to the Senate Committee on Law, following which Sanjrani issued the directions for it.

PPP Senator Bahramand Khan Tangi on his question in a supplementary query said the breakup of the funds provided to the universities was not provided in the ministry’s response.

Referring to the details, he said the National University of Technology, National Skill University and Health Services Academy, Islamabad were established after the enactment of the relevant legislation.

“I ask how many universities in  Islamabad have been set up after passing the legislation and how much funds have been released to them?” he inquired.

Read Jumbo cabinet costs taxpayers dearly

PTI Senator Dr Zarqa Suharwardy Taimur on her point of order demanded that the minister of state should respond to queries related to  nationwide institutions instead of only those in the federal capital.

“There are 174 universities across the country and the federal ministry is only limited to Islamabad,” she added.

The minister of state for law replied that he wanted to correct the female senator that there were 248 universities across the country.

He added that he had only provided his replies pertaining to the federal capital level.

He further said four universities were set up in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa from 2019-21.

He added that no universities were facing a financial crisis and every day legislation was being enacted in the Senate for creation of new universities.

PTI Senator Falak Naz on a supplementary query related to the incomplete Chitral-Shandur Road project maintained that the work was halted by the PDM government. She added that the previous government had allocated Rs45 billion for the scheme.

PTI Senator Saifullah Abro on his point of order further added to her query and said the overall allocation so far was not 10% of the total project cost.

He claimed that it was not viable to complete it by 2024.

The minister of state said the PC-I of the road project was approved by former premier Shahid Khaqan Abbasi in 2017.

He added that work on the project  was under way and 12.2% progress was made so far on the site.

Awan maintained that the construction work was mostly halted because of snowfall and inclement weather conditions.

He added that apart from the weather problems, the road needed to be widened 24 feet further with a 10 feet shoulder to be developed across it.

“The NHA under its own specification construction of the project will need to procure more land. However, the K-P department of mines is intervening and not cooperating in the process,” he claimed.

However, he said Chitral-Shandur Road would be completed by 2024.

PML-N’s Asif Kirmani criticised his colleagues on the treasury benches over the shortage of petrol in the market.

“The petrol mafia is challenging the government’s writ. If the petroleum minister were here today, I would ask him whether this mafia was out of control?”