MNAs peeved at officials skipping panel meeting

As absence of bureaucrats from the meetings of parliamentary standing committees appeared to have become a routine, a treasury member on Monday raised the issue on the floor of the National Assembly.

The issue was raised by Syed Ghulam Mustafa Shah, who earlier postponed a meeting of the National Assembly special committee on the issuance of arms licences to the members of parliament.

Ghulam chaired the special committee meeting at the Parliament House but the relevant officials of the interior ministry did not attend it. The chair summoned the interior secretary on Tuesday (today).

Raising the issue in the National Assembly session, Ghulam said that the committee on the arms licences was insulted by the interior ministry officials. He demanded action against the officials concerned.

Speaking on a point of order, Ghulam said that the house’s special committee waited for the secretary and other high officials of the interior ministry but none of them turned up for the meeting.

Chairing the session, Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf said that the chair could only give directions but the government had to establish its writ through implementation of these directions.

“The government should suspend the secretary and appoint a new one,” he said. “It could be a severe offense if the secretary did not implement government’s instructions.”

The speaker said that the committee was part of parliament and contempt of the house’s body was tantamount to contempt of parliament. “The secretary should attend the meeting of the committee,” he added.

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said that the interior minister should take notice of this matter. The bureaucracy should represent their concerned ministries, he added.

Economic Affairs Minister Sardar Ayaz Sadiq said that some licences had been issued, while the remaining would be issued shortly.

Rana Tanveer urged the ministers to direct secretaries to attend the committee meeting.

Sardar Riaz Mazari said the police and other law enforcement agencies were not providing protection to them, adding that they needed arms licences for self-protection but their applications were pending since March.

The speaker directed the interior secretary to issue arms licences within a week to all those members of the National Assembly (MNAs) who had applied for the licence. (WITH INPUT FROM APP)