State Minister for Defence Sardar Saleem Haider has disclosed that former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani was provided with Air Force transportation for PPP’s October 15 rally in Hyderabad in violation of rules.
To a question during question hour in the Senate on Thursday, he admitted that the facility was accorded to the former PM on orders of serving Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf, who had the prerogative to facilitate anyone.
Sardar Saleem Haider was at a loss to explain the objections of opposition when asked according to what regulations was Gilani obliged with an Air Force plane in an unofficial capacity and purely for political purposes.
He said that a CN-235 (CASA) aircraft was utilised from Islamabad, Hyderabad, Karachi and Islamabad.
Entitlement of PAF special flights are arranged for the president, prime minister and ministers of Pakistan in accordance with relevant rules and instruction and in accordance with prevalent instructions of the government, flights authorised by president or PM are not charged by the PAF.
Sardar Saleem Haider informed the House that PML-N’s former prime minister Nawaz Sharif also ‘obliged’ one of his minister with Air Force transportation earlier.
To another question, the state minister said currently there were 42 airports in the country, of which 22 were functional, while others were redundant.
He also informed the Senate that all maintenance of airports was handled by CAA (Civil Aviation Authority) by its self-generated funds.
Earlier, Senator M Hamza of the PML-N raised the issue, questioning the rules and the amount spent on the trip.
Senate Chairman Nayyer Hussain Bukhari deferred the interior ministries questions due to absence of the minister.
Hamza criticised the government, saying it had raised an army of ministers and it was the collective responsibility of cabinet members to response to questions in absence of any of their colleague.
In a written reply, Defence Minister Naved Qamar informed the House that his ministry had not made any agreement with any foreign government for permitting drone attacks in Pakistan.
He said in the absence of any agreement, the exact date of the commencement of drone strike inside Pakistan was not available in records of the ministry.
The written reply added that the drone strikes were being carried out without the consent of the government of Pakistan and its armed forces, therefore, no exact time limit could be given about their termination.
The government of Pakistan and the army leadership have repeatedly raised the issue and the need for their immediate cessation with the US government and its military authorities.