NGO-sponsored foreign junkets: proposal placing curbs on Senators faces resistance

Chairman Senate Raza Rabbani along with other lawmakers in Senate on Thursday strongly opposed and resisted a proposal by an independent senator to incorporate a special clause into the proposed draft on 'code of conduct and ethics for senators', barring them from enjoying the attractive foreign junkets sponsored by the non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
The house was debating the draft Rules of Senate Committee on Ethics and draft code of Conduct for Senators, prepared by a special committee on Ethics, in order to keep a check on the conduct of the senators, through amendment to Senate rules. Taking part in the debate, Mohsin Laghari, an independent senator, floated the idea that the senators should be barred from enjoying NGO-sponsored junkets, adding that all the agenda for the meeting is prepared by the NGOs, who take the lawmakers on foreign trips quite often.
But, contrary to expectations of Senator Laghari and some others, Chairman Senate Raza Rabbani came with interesting remarks, and said: "We all go on such [NGO-sponsored] seminars and trips, and that would be a bit problematic for all of us." "I don't blame anybody as I myself feel guilty. I've attended such seminars on several occasions, and this is the reason I 'm floating the idea that it should also be made part of the Senate rules that at least the MPs who are going on NGO-sponsored trip abroad, should at least inform the Senate Secretariat," Laghari added.
This prompted Senator Taj Haider, a left-wing Pakistan People's Party (PPP) senator, to stand up in full retaliation to Senator Laghari, saying that he belongs to 'Sufi school of thought' and could not support the 'mullah-mentality, adding that no one can corrupt his conscience whether it is NGO or anybody else. "I don't support the idea to bar MPs from going on NGO-sponsored trips abroad," Taj maintained. Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed, another senator of sufi school of thought, who often avails such opportunities, stood by Senator Taj Haider, and said there is no harm in availing such opportunities as this is quite beneficial for the lawmakers.
He also accepted that he had been on such tours along with other fellow senators, adding that most recently a delegation of MPs went to Germany. He continued that similar trips were arranged by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) in collaboration with NGOs.
But Mushahidullah Khan, a senator from ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), insisted to incorporate a clause making the senators bound that they could not avail such leisure trips sponsored by the NGOs.
He said that the NGO elites exploit the lawmakers through such tactics, adding that there existed not even a single NGO which was working without any agenda. These junkets to foreign countries, he added, were arranged by the NGOs to present their role in front of their bosses in the countries from where they get funding. "It is my personal experience that an elected representative looks like an ordinary man when you go to such seminars, sponsored by these people [NGO elite], and the thing which looks more awkward is that the NGO baboo will be given more respect than an MP," he maintained.
The lawmakers belonging to Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazal (JUI-F) opposed the bill tooth nail, saying it would be misused against senators as anybody could lodge a complaint against any senator, adding there already exists a law which should be implemented instead of creating more problems for senators through such laws.
Maulana Attaur Rehman, a JUI-F senator, said that the government should implement Articles 62, 63, if it really wants to ensure the accountability of the lawmakers. "Is it possible to use liquor, commit zina, corruption and other bad things which happen quite frequently in the country with no exemption of the MPs, through rules," he remarked sarcastically in an obvious reference to lawmakers considered to be a bit enlightened.
"What can you do if some Jamshed Dasti springs into action with barrage of accusations against the MPs of being involved in immoral activities and drug taking," he recalled the allegations leveled by an MNA who accused MPs residing in an MNA hostel of using liquor, etc.
Hafiz Hamdullah, another JUI senator from Balochistan, said that his party strongly opposed the draft rules, as it would be used as a tool to malign the senators, who were already under attack without any reason, adding the government should focus on implementing Articles 62, 63 instead of creating more problems for the politicians.
The other senators belonging to both treasury and opposition lauded the initiative taken by chairman Senate through amendment to Senate rules, saying that it would go a long way in ensuring the accountability of the lawmakers. The house also passed an amendment to the draft rules, incorporating the role of chairman Senate in the ethics committee. Earlier, during a meeting of the special committee on ethics, a group of senators including chairman Senate had opposed that chairman Senate should have no role in the ethics committee.
An adjournment motion moved by Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed, seeking debate on a speech delivered by US President Barack Hussain Obama to State of the Union in which he had mentioned Pakistan in terrorism context stating that instability will continue for decades in parts of Pakistan, which runs counter to the claims of Pakistan government regarding success of operation Zarb-e-Azb.