Dar urges in-camera Senate session on terrorism

Minister says PIA tops list of entities up for privatisation

ISLAMABAD:

Leader of the house in the Senate, Ishaq Dar, called on the caretaker government to convene an in-camera session to address the recent surge in terrorist incidents as the members expressed their worries on the prevailing law and order situation in the country.

The upper house of parliament met here with Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani in the chair. During the session Opposition Leader Shahzad Wasim raised the issue of bills passed by parliament going missing. The chair sought a report from the parliamentary affairs ministry regarding the “missing bills”.

At the outset of the session, the senators expressed their annoyance at the absence of ministers. The chair ordered for writing a letter to the caretaker prime minister, requesting him to ensure the attendance of the ministers in the house.

During the question hour, Information and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Murtaza Solangi told the house that Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) topped the list of entities given by the previous government for privatisation.

Solangi said that no former minister, adviser, or special assistant from the previous government retained official vehicles upon leaving office. He informed the house that the majority of current cabinet members, including himself, are utilizing 1800cc vehicles.

Senator Shahadat Awan proposed referring the matter of appointing law officers to the standing committee for a comprehensive review. Azam Nazir Tarar highlighted that law officers often handle up to 20 cases without receiving adequate compensation for their efforts. Solangi pointed out that, according to the rules, hiring private lawyers is reserved for exceptional circumstances.

Later, taking the floor, Senator Raza Rabbani raised the issue of terrorism in the country. He added that there were two types of terrorism, the one committed by the non-state elements against the Pakistani security forces and the other was an economic terrorism perpetrated by the IMF and the World Bank.

Rabbani told the house that the Senate should have been taken into confidence on the issue of eviction of the refugees, saying that the decision in this regard did not fall under the purview of the caretaker government. “If there was a major security issue, it could have been referred to parliament,” he said.

“This fresh wave of terrorism in the country is becoming dangerous. Army soldiers are martyred in several incidents in Balochistan,” he said, adding that it had to be seen whether those incidents were coincidences or the result of the refugee policy.

“CPEC may also be the cause of these incidents because many forces were against this important mega project. Another reason could be the deal with the TTP. Parliament and the people are unaware of the details of the deal and still there is no information about how much funds were used in this regard.”

Senator Ishaq Dar raised the question as to who freed the dangerous prisoners from jails and who brought them to Afghanistan. He added that all the stakeholders should be called to an in-camera session of the house.

Also, Zarqa Suharwardi raised the issue of the privatisation of the PIA. Through a call-attention notice related to PIA, Senator Kamran Murtaza said that efforts were made to fail the national flag carrier. Even the PSO was not providing fuel to the airline. He added. Later, the session was adjourned till Monday.