Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi hit out against the opposition for not allowing Law Minister Barrister Forough Naseem to introduce the 26th Amendment Bill during the National Assembly (NA) session, stating that the opposition had moved away from its own stance.
Speaking on the floor of the parliament, the foreign minister pointed out that the opposition itself had once called for “open balloting”, but had moved away from that stance.
“The nation can now see how they’ve changed colours like a chameleon,” he declared. “They don’t want [this bill to pass] because they are used to buying and selling [their] conscience.”
Qureshi pointed out that the government had tabled the bill despite not having two-third majority because “flagbearers of the Charter of Democracy” had been demanding fair and transparent elections.
He admonished opposition members for being “two-faced” and stated that “this house cannot function” if their behaviour and refusal to listen to the government continued.
During his speech, which was interrupted with desk thumping and slogan-chanting, the foreign minister said that the opposing parties had been “defiling the sanctity of the parliament”.
He further stated that while the ruling party had been showing patience and respect to the opposition, the government would not allow them to bulldoze the bill.
The foreign minister made it clear that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) will stand committed with its principled stand of ensuring transparency in Senate elections, irrespective of approval or rejection of the amendment in the lower house. He added that the government is not afraid of opposition’s long march or any other protest.
The FM on Thursday said that Prime Minister Imran Khan had promised the introduction of reforms and that is why the government had moved a bill for amendments in Articles 59, 63 and 226 of the Constitution.
He further said that the bill was aimed at unveiling the motive of the candidate who wanted to indulge in “horse-trading” during the polls. In this regard, he declared that the Paksitan People’s Party (PPP) did not have a majority in Punjab and the only way they could win was through horse-trading.
He rejected the notion that the PTI was trying to use open balloting as a means of manipulating the election results in their favour, and further said that the opposition parties were trying to uphold “corrupt practices” and “fill up their treasury boxes.”
Moreover, Qureshi said that he has “heard that they want to bring a former prime minister in Senate,” in an apparent reference to the PPP. The party, he added, has “also decided they want to make someone Senate chairman.”
He pointed out that the government had tabled the bill despite not having two-third majority because “flagbearers of the Charter of Democracy” had been demanding fair and transparent elections.
The minister asked the house whether such members could be trusted for defending the interest of the nation.
“People can see that the opposition is in a pinch, history will witness that they are still part of corrupt practices, we are trying to build a wall in front of corrupt practices but they are still trying to stop that.
“Today the nation has to decide, the elected representatives of the people have to decide if they want to stand by the group of thieves,” Qureshi concluded.
Similarly, Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry stated during today’s session that “PPP and PML-N [Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz] do not want this bill to pass because they want to keep the Senate a millionaires club”.
Referring to the party members who had voted in support of the Senate chairman when a no-confidence motion was brought against him in August 2019, he asked: “How will they take action against MNAs and senators when [the] PPP [and] PML-N leadership knows that they themselves are bought and sold every day?”
The minister further said that the PML-N had taken $10 million from Osama bin Laden to move a no-confidence motion against former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.
“They even ate up that money,” Fawad said. He added that the PPP had also turned against its former, slain leader who had herself signed the Charter of Democracy by speaking against the amendment bill.
Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar also echoed Qureshi and Fawad’s sentiments about the reasons for bringing the bill.
Separately, Asad Umar in a tweet said: “A system of Senate elections in which the people see that the consciences of the elected representatives are being auctioned will weaken the democratic system”.
The minster said that the power of democracy comes from the parliament and from the elected representatives’ moral strength, and not from any of the armed force.
Meanwhile, the speech of Federal Minister for Energy Omar Ayub was also marred by protests as the opposition lawmakers who stood from their desks and thumped them.
PPP’s Shaiza Marri asked the minister to respond to the questions being asked, saying, “you are not here to address a rally, rather to respond to concerns.”
PPP’s Naveed Qamar and Agha Rafiullah and PTI’s Faheem Khan and Attaullah were seen attacking each other during the session. Ataullah reportedly fell down after being pushed by Rafiullah.
The lawmakers on both the sides called each other turncoats and engaged in verbal sparring during the session and consequently, security was brought inside to tackle the melee and restore normalcy to the session.
The session was prorogued.
BILL TO BRING TRANSPARENCY:
Leader of the House in Senate Shahzad Waseem on Thursday said that the government presented the bill in the parliament to bring transparency in the Senate elections and end the unfair practices of the past regimes.
Speaking in the upper house, he said that it was a reality that elections in the Senate in the past had not been transparent and there had been incidents of horse-trading as well as the buying and selling of votes.
The government and the opposition had to decide to end these unfair practices, he said adding after the previous election of senate chairman, the opposition should have identified those who changed their loyalties.
He recalled that Prime Minister Imran Khan removed 20 members of his party from the provincial assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) due to allegations that they sold their votes in the Senate elections.
The opposition parties, while signing the Charter of Democracy, had agreed that all indirect and direct Senate elections should be held through open and identifiable votes, he continued.
Shahzad further stated the government wanted to change the law and approached the Supreme Court (SC) and presented a bill in the National Assembly to ensure transparency in the elections.
“Prime Minister Imran Khan wanted transparency in the Senate elections,” he maintained, adding unfair practices were also used in the election of Balochistan.
He said that there was a nexus between corruption and politics, adding that the country was trapped in a vicious cycle of fake accounts and corrupt practices by godfathers and mafias.
“We have to break this vicious cycle. I request the opposition to set good traditions to increase the dignity of the members and the Senate.”
Senator Faisal Javed, speaking on the occasion, said that PM Imran Khan was the first person who gave the idea of neutral umpires in the international cricket and then staged a 126 days sit-in to demand the opening of four constituencies to rectify problems in the electoral process.
When the four constituencies were opened, evidence of rigging was found, he maintained. Imran Khan did not compromise on the issue of corruption, he said, adding the opposition should support the legislation of public interest.
The opposition wanted NRO to hide its corruption and Imran Khan clearly said he would not give NRO, he further opined.
During the discussion on the presidential address, Senator Mohsin Aziz said that the government gave a relief package of Rs1.2 trillion during the pandemic and Rs200 billion of it was earmarked for the Ehsaas programme.
He pointed out that, during his address, the president had said that the economy was improving, that the current account deficit was in surplus, exports were rising and industrial activity was picking up.
Senator Abdul Qayyum, on the other hand, said that the government could not provide online education to the students living in far-flung areas. He said that 40 per cent of schools in the rural areas were without electricity and basic facilities.
He pointed out that there was a need to set up special economic zones (SEZs) as was envisaged in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project.
Earlier, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan presented the bill to make provisions for the establishment of Pakistan single window, known as the “Pakistan Single Window Bill, 2021”.
The Senate chairman referred the bill to the relevant committee. The bill was already passed by the National Assembly (NA).
Standing Committee on Law and Justice Chairman Senator Javed Abbasi presented different reports of the committees before the house.
The reports were related to reforms to the laws, amendments in articles 11, 73 and 93 of the constitution and Guardians and Wards Act, 1890 and for changes in the Pakistan Penal Code, 1860 and in the General Clauses Amendment Bill, 2021 and The Public Complaints Bill, 2021.
With additional input from APP
