In a unanimous resolution on Wednesday, senators condemned incidents of terrorism in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and urged the provincial government to take steps to improve law and order in the province.
The senators expressed sympathies with the bereaved families and offered fateha for the departed souls.
During the Senate proceedings, the senators also raised the issue of the reported opening of an office by the Taliban in Doha and sought the government’s point of view on the issue.
PML-Q Senator Mushahid Hussain, JUI-F Senator Abdul Ghafoor Haideri and PPP Senator Kazim Khan quoted media reports about the opening of the Doha office by the Taliban.
They sought explanation on whether Pakistan had been consulted on the matter and how the peace process in Afghanistan would move forward now.
Leader of the House Raja Zafarul Haq assured the House that the adviser to the prime minister on foreign affairs would soon brief the House on the matter.
Haq said there was a time when nobody wanted to initiate dialogue with the Taliban but now the atmosphere had changed and opening of the Qatar office by the Taliban was an important development.
On a point of order, Haideri urged the government to take steps to end terrorism in the country. He said Pakistan’s problems of law and order were linked to the situation in Afghanistan.
Senator Kazim Khan said Pakistan should formally be included in the peace process in Afghanistan.
On a point of order, PPP Senator Sardar Ali drew the attention of the House towards non-payment of salaries of employees of the Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) for the past 16 months.
The leader of the House said he met a delegation of PTDC employees and had conveyed their complaints about the PTDC chairman to the relevant minister.
On a point of order, ANP Senator Haji Adeel objected to the unnecessary security at the entrance of parliament and said he was stopped from meeting reporters when he had come for the Senate session.
On another point of order, PPP Senator Farhatullah Babar said a summary had been moved for appointment of a serving army general on the post of military lands and cantonments director general whereas legally this post should be held by a civilian.
He said the post of a land regulator should not be held by an army officer who was a landowner and user.
The Senate chairman asked the senator to move a motion so that the House could discuss the issue in detail.
Discussing the budget proposals, PPP Senator Ahmed Hassan said bad economic conditions were the cause of the worsening law and order in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He said mega projects in the province including Lowari Tunnel and water schemes should be completed.
He suggested that the good projects of the past governments should be continued and incentives given for the promotion of the industry should be increased.
MQM Senator Mustafa Kamal stressed on the need to formulate a policy to tackle the issue of rapid urbanisation. He said unplanned settlements in big cities were creating social and economic ills.
He also demanded the local government system be put in place to give people ownership of development projects at the local level.
PML-N Senator Nisar Khan praised the government for ending discretionary and secret funds of ministries and 30 percent cut in expenditures.
He welcomed the allocation of Rs 250 billion for the energy sector, saying the control of distribution and transmission losses and payment of circular debt would help cut energy shortages.
