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After the National Assembly, it was for the Senate to witness verbal bouts among the ruling Pakistan Muslim League Senators on Wednesday.
Just a day after President General Musharraf intervened to win back four Fata Senators' support for the party, two ministers and as many ruling PML lawmakers exchanged hot words over ministers' absence and for giving wrong replies during the question hour. State Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Senator Kamil Ali Agha expressed indignation and said on the floor of the House that the matter would be taken up at the next parliamentary party meeting.
Musharraf asked PML President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain to end party differences, after he met Fata Senators and some MNAs.
"This is unfair. It is ministers' collective responsibility to answer questions. There is nothing wrong if am representing Ijazul Haq," Kamil Agha argued when Senator Gulshan Saeed objected to his giving answers on behalf of religious affairs minister. On this, Gulshan uttered some words, but were not audible.
State Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Naseer Mengal and Senator Nisar A Memon took lead in a series of allegations and counter-allegations. The minister accused Memon of being angry over not given representation in the cabinet while the latter dubbed Mengal as incompetent for not giving correct answer to questions, particularly about how many villages adjoining Islamabad would be supplied gas and when.
"Since he could not become minister, despite his utmost efforts. He is trying to ventilate his frustration by speaking against me," Mengal contended.
With smile on his face, he offered to volunteer the ministerial slot for Memon, if he was that much upset. Before he would have completed the sentence, Memon left the House.
Earlier, the start of the proceedings was not much different from the previous day, as PPPP Senator Mian Raza Rabbani rose to draw the Senate Chairman Mohammadmian Soomro's attention towards Ijazul Haq absence from the House before the question hour started. At that time, only six ministers were present.
By that time neither Ijaz nor Kamil Ali Agha, who was to reply to questions about the religious affairs ministry was in the House. The chair informed that Agha was on his way to the Senate.
Rabbani called upon the chair to suspend a minister as a caution to other cabinet members who usually stay away from the Parliament.
Not rejecting his proposal, the Senate chairman proposed that for today, the ministers might be spared.
"What the large army of ministers, perhaps the biggest in the world, is up to? If they don't bother to attend the House business," roared Senator Ismail Buledi of Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal.
He complained that every day the House has to wait for ministers before resuming business. The proceedings started 40 minutes behind the schedule and the chair regretted and attributed the delay to visitors at his chamber.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2006

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