Hot and cold Senate session sees barbs, offers of support

ISLAMABAD: The first regular session of the Senate after its most recent election turned out to be hot and cold where opposition and treasury benches traded barbs but also agreed on working together to pull the country out of the economic quagmire.

The session on Thursday started with 11 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa seats vacant since the election wasn’t held there over the delay in the administration of oath to KP assembly members elected on reserved seats.

As the first order of business, Senate Chairman Yousuf Raza Gilani took oath from Faisal Vawda and Maulana Abdul Wasay, who became Senate members after winning the election on April 2.

Their oath taking was delayed as the two senators were not present in the house’s opening session on April 7.

Dar seconds Shibli’s offer for reconciliation to tackle challenges; bipartisan committee to examine tax amendments

In a fiery speech after the oath, the newly appointed opposition leader, Shibli Faraz, questioned the legitimacy of the present assemblies and demanded a thorough investigation into the discrepancies in Form-45 and Form-47 of the recently held general elections.

He regretted that general elections were not conducted in Punjab and KP within the constitutional deadline of 90 days after the dissolution of provincial assemblies.

“The Constitution was violated in the same way in the case of the National Assembly.”

The PTI was “deprived” of its election symbol and “ridiculous and confusing symbols” like brinjal and pumpkin were allotted to its candidates, Mr Faraz said.

The majority of voters “gave the mandate to PTI” which was “stolen through wide-scale manipulations in the Forms-47”.

“We are a reality. You cannot set us aside”, he remarked.

The PTI leader claimed that at present, the country had “the highest number of political prisoners, with 99.9 per cent of them belonging to PTI”.

He ended his speech with an offer of reconciliation, underlining the need for collective efforts to address Pakistan’s enormous challenges.

‘Let us work together’

His view was endorsed by Leader of the House Ishaq Dar from across the aisle.

“Let us work together. Let us get Pakistan out of the quagmire”, he said while offering an olive branch to the opposition.

Mr Dar said the task was “doable” and “it all depends on how we act”.

“Let us bury the past”, he remarked and underlined the need to bring the blame game to an end and stop the distortion of facts.

Both the government and the opposition would have to work together on the privatisation process, energy sector reforms and other issues while sitting in standing committees, Mr Dar added.

Before his offer of reconciliation, Mr Dar had chided the PTI for its alleged involvement in May 9 attacks. “You committed a blunder. You challenged the state itself and endangered it.”

“You should not have gone to this extent in politics”, he remarked and asked the PTI leaders to prove their innocence before courts of law.

The house leader also rejected criticism over election rigging and questioned: “How elections were fair in KP and unfair in Punjab?”

Mr Dar also rejected other accusations levelled by the opposition leader, including the delay in the release of funds for general elections.

He said that the previous Pakistan Democratic Movement government had “released every penny” for general elections, as mentioned in the 2023 budget.

On the issue of Senate elections in KP, the house leader said it was a matter between the ECP, provincial government and courts.

Former caretaker prime minister and now senator Anwaarul Haq Kakar also replied to the opposition leader’s comments about the delay in holding elections.

He said the 90-day limit was a constitutional requirement, but so was holding a census every ten years.

The caretaker government had no desire to extend its stint but it was a compulsion to carry out fresh delimitation, Mr Kakar reasoned.

‘Generals, judges should sign affidavit’

Mr Vawda, in his first speech on the floor of the house, said the affidavit about dual citizenship submitted by lawmakers should also be submitted by all generals and judges.

Asserting the supremacy of the parliament, the former PTI leader said the two houses legislate laws, and they should have the right to interpret them as well rather than allowing others to interpret them as per their will.

New bills introduced

The government also introduced three bills: the Election (Amendment) Bill, 2024, the Motion Pictures (Amendment) Bill, 2023 and the Establishment of Special Court (Overseas Pakistanis Property) Bill, 2023, during the session, APP reported.

Chairman Gillani referred the bills to the standing committees concerned for detailed deliberation.

Since the standing committee on finance was yet to be formed, the Tax Laws (Amendment) Bill 2024 was referred to a special committee formed earlier by the chairman.

The three-member committee comprising Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, PTI’s Barrister Ali Zafar and PPP’s Farooq H. Naek will submit its report to the house on Monday.

Published in Dawn, April 26th, 2024