The Senate session was adjourned on Tuesday till Friday, after the opposition lawmakers staged a walkout from the upper house of parliament over the absence of ministers to answer their questions.
As per the details, the session was being chaired by Deputy Chairman Mirza Afridi. During the question-answer session, Jamaat-e-Islami Senator Mushtaq Ahmed expressed anger over the absence of ministers.
The chair was forced to prorogue the session briefly after the quorum was found incomplete. The session resumed after a while with the attendance of the treasury lawmakers only.
“Why isn’t the minister here; do they think we have lots of time at our hands,” the JI lawmaker asked. He said the secretaries have also stopped coming to the house, following in the footsteps of their ministers.
Leader of the House Shahzad Wasim said the health ministry doesn’t have a minister but a special assistant. “The special assistants [to prime minister] don’t come to parliament, the ministers answer queries in their stead,” he added.
At this, the opposition created a ruckus and walked out of the house while also pointing out the quorum. The deputy chairman sent Senator Ijaz Chaudhry and Anwarul Haq to convince the opposition to come back to the house, but that remained an exercise in futility.
Following the walkout, Senator Sherry Rehman while speaking to the media said the government was conducting proceedings in the absence of the opposition that had no “legitimacy”.
The PPP senator stated that the government was making a fool of itself by resorting to such practices. “We will conduct our session outside the assembly if the government’s attitude didn’t change,” she added.
As the opposition lawmakers’ boycott continued, the government senators made “hard-hitting” speeches against the opposition. Only eight government senators were present in the house however, as the opposition lawmakers stayed in the lobby.
During the session, Senator Faisal Javed also irked some of the government senators with his lengthy address.
PTI Senator Saifullah Abro and Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) Senator Danesh Kumar protested after they didn’t get time to speak during the session.
Abro said, “We don’t get time to speak on issues pertaining to Sindh.” He walked out of the house in protest.
Senator Danesh Kumar, an allied senator, also protested the lengthy address by Senator Javed, saying he too wanted as much time as given to the PTI senator. “The speeches should be within the code of conduct lest the people start hating politicians,” he warned.
