ISLAMABAD: Senator Sherry Rehman on Wednesday questioned Prime Minister Imran Khan’s prolonged absence from the upper house of parliament, saying it was senators’ right to ask questions and get a briefing from the premier.
Urging that the Prime Minister should be pressed to attend the Senate, Sherry asked, “Why does the Prime Minister not visit the Senate?
She said the PM remained consistently absent from the Senate despite the country facing mammoth challenges like inflation, poverty, and terrorism.
Sherry said, “Evidently, the government has failed to steer the country forward even though it repeatedly assures that everything is fine and rosy. It is failing to grasp that the debt-laden country is sinking into an economic turmoil with each passing day, she said.
“Moreover, we hear that the FBR has received $400 million from the World Bank to bring tax reforms to raise tax compliance which can take Pakistan’s revenue potential to 26 percent of GDP but what is happening on ground? Instead of bringing the elites into the tax net, amnesty schemes are being introduced to whiten black money and cater to friends’ lobbies,” she added.
“For eight months the government kept dithering over a decision regarding the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and now the conditionalities have become more stringent. Simultaneously, Pakistan’s future and governance have been auctioned off after appointing parachute officials from international agencies which is unprecedented for this country. These officials will now be involved in all the decisions from budget-making and commodity prices to interest rates and debts. Clearly, the government’s new master is IMF,” she added.
She also expressed condolences over the death of 10 people in a blast in Lahore.
“We pray for the victims of the gruesome Lahore blast and strongly condemn it,” PPP Parliamentary Leader in Senate, Rehman said, after an attack targeting police outside the famous shrine of Data Darbar claimed multiple lives.
“Unfortunately, terrorism has been escalating in the month of Ramadan but the PPP and the opposition have not been taken into confidence regarding the implementation of the National Action Plan, neither has the Prime Minister issued any statement in this regard,” she said, adding that it took nine months for the National Security Committee to be formed.
