The Upper House of parliament on Friday witnessed an unusual agreement amongst the opposition and treasury members when some of them jointly staged a walkout from the House in protest against the “indifferent attitude of the prime minister and his establishment”, thus forcing the deputy speaker to abruptly adjourn the session until Monday.
Senators from both sides complained that the PM’s indifferent attitude towards members of the Upper House was delaying the release of their development funds. Some female senators complained on points of order that special funds were not being provided to them under the Prime Minister’s Scheme for development in their respective constituencies.
Kalsoom Perveen, Saeeda Iqbal, Semeen Yusuf Siddiqui, Suriya Amiruddin and Syeda Sughra Hussain Imam were amongst the female senators who said the situation had embarrassed them as they were unable to launch development schemes for their people. Sameen Yusuf Siddiqui of the PML-Q initiated the debate through a point or order when she complained that the PM Secretariat and Finance Division was not cooperating with female senators in releasing their development funds.
She sought a meeting of senators with the prime minister prior to budget tabling. Syeda Sughra Hussain Imam reminded the government about a policy announced by the prime minister under which each senator was supposed to receive Rs 10 million. She the called for the constitution of a committee to probe why some selective senators had been obliged and others ignored.
Other senators from the treasury benches also complained of discrimination. Zahid Khan, Abdul Raziq, Haji Adeel, Wali Muhammad Badini and Dr. Abdul Khaliq Pirzada said they were being ignored in the grant of development funds and inclusion in the prime minister’s foreign tours, while MNAs were being obliged. Haji Adeel and Dr Abdul Khaliq Pirzada also expressed their concern over the non-issuance of arms licences to senators. Haji Adeel said the Upper House should adopt a policy of no-cooperation vis-à-vis legislation in protest against the PM’s attitude.
Later, Adeel led the walkout followed by the treasury members, including Senator Raza Rabbani, and some members of the opposition benches including Ishaq Dar of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz. Efforts to bring back the protesting senators in the House failed, which prompted Deputy Speaker Jan Muhammad Jamali to abruptly adjourn the session until Monday.
Earlier, senators from the treasury and opposition argued with Leader of the House Nayyar Hussain Bukhari on whether the House should pass “The Pakistan Trade Control of Wild Fauna and Flora Bill, 2010” after devolution of the subject to the provinces. Senator Raza Rabbani, Babar Awan, Zahid Khan, Prof Khurshid, Ishaq Dar and Haji Adil were of the view that as the devolution process had been completed, the said bill should not be passed by the Senate but the provincial assemblies.
