FROM A RINGSIDE SEAT

The Senate often turns out to be the home ground for the members from Balochistan, who speak far more eloquently in defence of the rights of their people than others. If the government has been made to substantially enhance the job quota of Balochistan the credit goes to them.
Tuesday, it was no exception. There was a question about promotions in senior grades, and members from Balochistan were complaining that their province was not getting a fair deal. They even triggered a token walkout to register protest in support of their argument, touching the hearts of those members from Balochistan who sit on treasury benches. Deputy Chairman Jan Muhammad Jamali, who was chairing the sitting, could not hold himself back.
Overwhelmed by the sentiments expressed on the floor he made the stunning observation: "It is a bitter fact. We have to give due representation to all provinces if we have to run this country".
But the one who stole the limelight of the day was senior parliamentarian Anwer Bhinder. As the House was going through its routine rough and tumble he got up to make the out of blue sky proposal that the Senate should hold a special pre-budget session as is the practice in many countries. According to tradition in Pakistan the bureaucracy makes the budget while members of parliament are never consulted.
Obviously, the budget made so never reflects the popular will, he said. His proposal received instant support from both sides of the aisle, so much so that it was decided, almost unanimously, that this pre-budget should be held towards the end of February. There was even a suggestion for a teaching class for the senators so that when they come to the pre-budget session they have some sense of the budget documents and comprehend the budget jargon.
If you have any difficulty in moving the summary for the pre-budget session the opposition would be willing to requisition a meeting of the Senate, volunteered leader of opposition Raza Rabbani. It was the Rabbani's sixth sense that had informed him that his opponent, Wasim Sajjad, would have "difficulty" in moving the summary, because it is inconceivable that Prime Minister Shauket Aziz would like the parliament to discuss the present state of economy in the Senate at this stage. With next budget in sight and elections not too distant, the government will not like the opposition to have a forum for lampooning the government, blaming it for failures everywhere. Perhaps, the Prime Minister will also try to figure out as to why most of the members on the treasury benches also supported Bhinder's proposal.
The sitting of the Senate started on time, (only about 20 minutes late), There were three pertinent questions, about duties and taxes on imported automobile batteries, asked by Talha Mahmood. State minister Omar Ayub was there to respond but he proposed that these questions go to the finance committee participated by concerned officials, for a threadbare discussion. The questioner agreed. However, it was question about promotions of senior officers that consumed most of the question hour. Its high point came when Jan Muhammad Jamali observed that it is the intelligence report that heavily weighs in when promotion decisions are made. And what these I-reports are, his comment was: "I don't smoke but the intelligence said I drink. About some others the I-reports say they are eveningers".
The house then took up the opposition's adjournment motion about the sacking of PIA's lower grade employees. Abdur Rahim Mandokhel, who in fact won permission to move this motion after a long lecture shaming the chair for not running the House according to the rules, was the first to speak. Raza Rabbani was the next who dubbed the PIA the "Black Hole of Calcutta" for its employees, adding the number of sacked has doubled since the motion was moved the day before.
But the irony is that while these people were thrown out, the PIA management has inducted about a dozen persons on fabulous terms and conditions.
Of course the opposition members endorsed Raza Rabbani but what surprised was that the minister for parliamentary affairs, Sher Afgan, too was fully in sync with the opposition leader. He asked the House wasn't he who exposed the lavish life style of the PIA chairman only last week. It was the Catch-22 situation, as they heard him heard him concluding that since this issue was discussed only last week under the rules it can be taken up for four months. But the opposition rejected that interpretation.
However, the leader of the House Wasim Sajjad agreed that the matter needed to be discussed, but not as an adjournment motion. His suggestion that House should discuss it by suspending rules prevailed, for which the chair fixed two hours on Thursday.
A portion of the proceedings can not be reported as journalists vacated the press gallery protesting the three-week old disappearance of Peshawar-based senior journalist Suhail Qalandar. But when state minister Anisa Zaib Thirkheli assured them that every effort to trace the missing journalist is being made at a proper level and that the interior minister will update the House on it on Friday, they returned to the gallery. The House will now meet on Wednesday afternoon.