FROM A RINGSIDE SEAT

Sacking of the Chairman, Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) on corruption charges by the Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani, was good news for the Parliament and the patriotic Pakistanis. The Prime Minister informed the National Assembly on Tuesday that he had just minutes ago, sacked Chairman Still Mills over the allegations of corruptions in the Corporation.
The Prime Minister said that he had taken action on the media reports and directed the Interior Ministry to probe into the matter and report to the House. The members from both sides of the House applauded the PM's swift move over the media reports and appreciated it by thumping their desks. It was a good omen for achieving the goal of good governance and making the country corruption- free as a top official was immediately sacked from his lucrative job, succumbing to the pressure of media reports followed by Opposition's demand in the Parliament.
Corruption scams in Still Mills or any other organisation are not new thing for the PPP. During the second tenure of the PPP's government led by the then Chairperson Benazir Bhutto in the 1990s similar corruption scandal had surfaced in the same organisation. Later the issue became popular when the then Chairman Still Mills Usman Farooqi made rampant irregularities in the corporation. Farooqi his wife and his daughter Sharmila Farooqi (now an advisor to the Sindh Chief Minister) had to face humiliation at the hands of the Nawaz Sharif's architected National Accountability Bureau (NAB) headed by its Chairman Saif-ur-Rehaman or (Ahtisab-ur-Rehaman--a nickname).
Anyway, this time, the apparently responsible Prime Minister seems to be perturbed over the growing corruption scandals in different departments including PIA, Railways, TCP and EOBI. He stresses that everyone would be held accountable through Parliament by strengthening parliamentary committees and Public Account Committee (PAC). He urged the chairman PAC to take suo motu action over the media reports about corruption and probe into the reports.
A seasoned politician and former Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat who last week had highlighted these media reports in the House again urged the Prime Minister not to limit his action only up to sacking the responsible officials but also take strong action against them to recover the looted wealth. The action against the chairman Still Mills, proves that corruption is a reality in the government and action be taken against other departments where there were reports of its prevalence. He further said that his party PML-Q submitted an adjournment motion over the rampant corruption in speaker chamber and it should be brought to the House immediately to start a long debate.
Now the time will tell us whether the Prime Minister who always talks about the supremacy of the Parliament and strengthening the state institutions would continue the accountability process till its logical end or would bow to the influential mafias, who are active in looting the national wealth. Meanwhile, Interior Minister Rehman Malik also vowed that his PPP government is as much determined to make a corruption-free society as it is determined to eliminate menace of terrorism from the country.
Tuesday was a private member day but the House could not take any significant business due to a long debate on a Bill moved by PML-Q lady lawmaker Dr Donya Aziz about Child Rights, for the protection of child rights in the society. The move of the lawmaker was hailed by both treasury and opposition members and asked the government to get it passed from the Parliament immediately. However, the Parliamentary Affairs Minister Babar contended that the Bill itself is a positive step of the member.
However, there are slight drafting mistakes and it should be referred to a special committee for further improvement and it was referred to the special committee. The house was stunned when another PML-Q lady MNA Dr Attiaya Innayattullah disclosed that over 20 million children in the country have no access to school. Of them 1.7 million are street children and 35,000 of them are only in Karachi.
Whereas, 5.5 million children are bounded labourers and deprived of their fundamental rights. The figures about the children depict the state of our society as the future builders of the nation have no access to the basic necessitates of life. She said that State is responsible for ensuring the children rights, adding that government should constitute 'Children Rights Commission' within sixty days of the passage of the proposed Bill to ensure the protection of these children.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Babar Awan said the government would not only facilitate in getting the Bill passed but would also evolve effective mechanism to implement it in letter and spirit. Meanwhile, a PPP allied party MQM sought debate in the House on the issue of Local Government as the Karachi based party is strong supporter of the system. Minister for Ports and Shipping Babar Ghauri said that his party submitted an adjournment in the speaker chamber seeking debate on the issue.
Surprisingly, PML-N, the key opposition party in the National Assembly was mum over the key issues during the entire session as most of its senior parliamentarians including Ahsan Iqbal, Javed Hashmi, Tehmina Daultana, Saad Rafiq, Abid Sher Ali and others either remained absent from the House or kept silent as far as the key issues are concerned. In the beginning of the session, it was expected that PML-N being the leading opposition party in NA would give tough time to the government over the key issues including taking action against former President Musharraf after the historical judgement of the Supreme Court declaring the November 3, 2007 action of the then Army chief as illegal and unconstitutional. The sugar scandal is also of public concern but hardly any of the party is interested in highlighting it in the Parliament. The house would now again meet on Wednesday at 5 pm.