Hiatus ends: Senate likely to see a stormy session
Debates on fuel, power rate hikes, law and order, judges’ nationality on agenda.
Debates on fuel, power rate hikes, law and order, judges’ nationality on agenda. PHOTO: FILE
ISLAMABAD:
A stormy session of Senate will start from Monday after an almost two months break.
A heavy agenda awaits the 98th session of the Upper House as the government is likely to face criticism by the opposition over issues like hike in petroleum prices and electricity tariff and the law and order situation.
All the opposition parties have submitted a number of adjournment motions, resolutions, calling attention notices and legislative business in the House for discussion on various public interest issues.
Among them, the prominent agenda items include the Right to the Information Bill-2013, debates on the petroleum prices and electricity tariff, the procedure of the appointment of judges of the superior courts and the blasts in Peshawar including the church attack.
Talking to The Express Tribune, Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed said the senators of his party, PML-Q, have submitted adjournment motions seeking debate over the unjust increase in the prices of electricity and petroleum and the proposed Margalla Tunnel project. Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Senator Farhatullah Babar said that he has submitted an adjournment motion in the house to debate over the procedure of appointment of judges for the superior courts. At present, he said, the superior judges’ appointments are made only by the chief justice. There is no role of president, prime minister and an eight-member parliamentary committee, where four members each from government and opposition are represented.
Babar said that Pakistan Bar Council has also raised objections to the procedure. He said that they want to review the procedure of the appointment of superior judges as it should not be done by any single person or institute and all the relevant institutions must have equal role to maintain merit and transparency.
“We want to review the current procedure to make it a balanced one so that merit and competency could be upheld while appointing judges of the superior courts,” he maintained.
Besides, Babar said that he had also submitted a resolution in the House, seeking that the superior judiciary must make public their nationality to check that how many judges hold dual nationality.
Previously, the judges had refused to provide information on their nationality to the Parliament maintaining that no law binds them from holding dual nationality.
“We don’t talk about the law which is binding or not. But we want to know that do the judges, as government servants, hold nationality other than Pakistani,” Babar stated.
Furthermore, Chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting Kamil Ali Agha would lay the Right to Information Bill-2013 in the upper house during the session as the concerned committee has already referred the bill back to the house after passing it unanimously.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 28th, 2013.
A stormy session of Senate will start from Monday after an almost two months break.
A heavy agenda awaits the 98th session of the Upper House as the government is likely to face criticism by the opposition over issues like hike in petroleum prices and electricity tariff and the law and order situation.
All the opposition parties have submitted a number of adjournment motions, resolutions, calling attention notices and legislative business in the House for discussion on various public interest issues.
Among them, the prominent agenda items include the Right to the Information Bill-2013, debates on the petroleum prices and electricity tariff, the procedure of the appointment of judges of the superior courts and the blasts in Peshawar including the church attack.
Talking to The Express Tribune, Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed said the senators of his party, PML-Q, have submitted adjournment motions seeking debate over the unjust increase in the prices of electricity and petroleum and the proposed Margalla Tunnel project. Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Senator Farhatullah Babar said that he has submitted an adjournment motion in the house to debate over the procedure of appointment of judges for the superior courts. At present, he said, the superior judges’ appointments are made only by the chief justice. There is no role of president, prime minister and an eight-member parliamentary committee, where four members each from government and opposition are represented.
Babar said that Pakistan Bar Council has also raised objections to the procedure. He said that they want to review the procedure of the appointment of superior judges as it should not be done by any single person or institute and all the relevant institutions must have equal role to maintain merit and transparency.
“We want to review the current procedure to make it a balanced one so that merit and competency could be upheld while appointing judges of the superior courts,” he maintained.
Besides, Babar said that he had also submitted a resolution in the House, seeking that the superior judiciary must make public their nationality to check that how many judges hold dual nationality.
Previously, the judges had refused to provide information on their nationality to the Parliament maintaining that no law binds them from holding dual nationality.
“We don’t talk about the law which is binding or not. But we want to know that do the judges, as government servants, hold nationality other than Pakistani,” Babar stated.
Furthermore, Chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting Kamil Ali Agha would lay the Right to Information Bill-2013 in the upper house during the session as the concerned committee has already referred the bill back to the house after passing it unanimously.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 28th, 2013.