Alvi under fire in Senate for ‘attack on Constitution’

Former Senate chairman Raza Rabbani has labeled President Dr Arif Alvi’s refusal to sign a summary to convene the National Assembly’s inaugural session as “a terrorist attack” on the Constitution.

“Pakistan's Constitution is under threat of terrorism; this time, the President House has attempted an act of terrorism,” Rabbani, a member of the PPP, stated during a Senate session on Monday.

The caretaker Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs had forwarded a summary to the president, urging the commencement of the NA session on Monday. Despite the request, Dr Alvi exercised his constitutional authority to postpone the session by 15 days.

Dr Alvi declined to authorize its commencement, ostensibly due to the non-allocation of reserved seats to the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC).

The SIC, a relatively unknown political entity, emerged as a major party in the National Assembly and the provincial legislature of Punjab after independent candidates affiliated with the PTI joined it last week.

However, this refusal ignited a controversy, with the PML-N arguing that following the expiration of the February 29 deadline, the NA speaker could independently convene the session.

Reacting to the development during a point of order, Rabbani stated that the president's refusal to convene an NA session constitutes a flagrant violation of the Constitution.

“Rejecting the prime minister's summary for a National Assembly session is an unconstitutional act. The president is violating Article 91 of the Constitution. He should not derail the democratic system and refrain from violating the Constitution,” he added.

Senator Saifullah Abro of the PTI noted that according to the Constitution, a National Assembly session should be convened within 21 days of the general elections, while the Election Act, 2017 mandates the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to publish Form 45 on its website within fourteen days of polls.

“The esteemed member of the house should also raise this issue,” he remarked.

Abro pointed out that the president is not summoning the NA session as the ECP has not yet allocated reserved seats to the SIC. “My question is why the ECP is dragging its feet on the allocation of reserved seats?”

Earlier, Senator Mushtaq Ahmad Khan of the JI observed that government institutions were consuming Rs458.1 billion of the taxpayer money with zero efficiency. The current model, he argued, is depriving the poor and enriching the rich.

“The losses of government-owned institutions have now reached up to ten percent of GDP, rendering state-run agencies unsustainable. If the government cannot run these institutions, then it should privatize them,” he suggested.

Federal Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Murtaza Solangi stated that the decision regarding the privatization of government institutions will ultimately be made by the elected government.

He mentioned that more than 200 institutions are facing losses, including departments related to power, finance, and communication.

Referring to a report from the Ministry of Finance, he said these institutions incur a loss of Rs730 billion annually, whereas the overall profit of profitable institutions is around Rs570 billion. The net loss is approximately Rs160 billion.

“The loss-making entities include the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), the National Highway Authority (NHA), the Pakistan Railways, and the Pakistan Steel Mills. The losses incurred by the NHA were close to Rs170 billion,” he added.