Outgoing senators leave House with heavy heart but light shoulders

The outgoing senators on Friday left the Senate Hall with heavy hearts but light shoulders after the Senate chairman read out the prorogation order of the last session of the present Senate amidst calls for direct election to the seats of the Upper House in future for better representation of public and eliminate the menace of corruption involved in the in-vogue procedure.
Friday was the 79th and last session of the present Senate and the 50 outgoing lawmakers will be replaced by new ones from Monday. Four new members from minorities will also join the new Senate making the total strengthen of the House to 104. After the prorogation, the senators met one another warmly with some hoping that they would soon reappear on the political horizon of the country.
Taking part in the farewell speeches, the members noted that the decisions taken by the House would go a long way for the development and prosperity of the country.
In his farewell address, Senate Chairman Farooq Naik thanked all the members for their support during his tenure in running the business of the House. He said parliamentary traditions were upheld and decisions made for the betterment of the country. Those who spoke on the occasion include Prof Khurshid Ahmad, Dr Safdar Abbasi, Ishaq Dar, Tariq Azeem, Abdul Rahim Mandokhel and Syed Zafar Ali Shah.
Remembering the slain PPP leader Benazir Bhutto, the outgoing senator of the PPP and spouse of Benazir Bhutto’s former political secretary Naheed Khan, Safdar Abbasi wondered how the death of one person changed (his) world. He said he did not even apply for the Senate party ticket due to his increasing differences with the party leadership on a number of issues including party affairs and the investigation into the death of Benazir Bhutto.
He said the PPP government created a crisis by not restoring the judges at their own will and later disobeying the court orders. He was of the view that legislators be freed from party policy shackles and should express independent views on issues of national importance except money bill etc. He also supported forming a Truth and Reconciliation Commission but said the political leadership must speak truth before it. He was hopeless of being elected as senator in future but at the same time vowed to again rise on the political horizon.
Senator Ishaq Dar said being symbol of the federation, the Senate must play its role in rectifying the past mistakes. He also advocated an out of the box solution to check corruption involved in the procedure of the Senate elections.
Prof Khurshid Ahmad in his farewell speech said sovereignty of the country was challenged by external forces. He particularly pointed out the issue of Balochistan, corruption, food security, economy, human rights and accountability of Pervez Musharraf and urged the government to do the needful in this regard.
The House unanimously passed a resolution condemning terrorist attacks at the public rallies in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The resolution moved by ANP Senator Haji Muhammad Adeel strongly condemned terrorist attacks on the public meeting of PPP-Sherpao leader Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao and a police van after a public gathering in Swabi and similar attacks on other rallies in the province.