ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has said that Pakistan’s stability, progress and prosperity hinges on the continuity of the democratic system with stringent and transparent fiscal discipline.
This requires continuous collaborative and sustained efforts, he said, speaking at the Senate’s house’s golden jubilee celebrations meeting on Wednesday.
He said the Senate stands tall as an effective institutional mechanism to maintain unity and solidarity of the federation and provides equal representation to provinces and guards their interest.
Dar said, despite challenges, the Senate made this mark as a federal chamber, dedicated to majority and maintaining balance of power between the two houses.
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Dar, who is also Leader of the House in the Senate, further said that the upper house also made significant headway as a deliberative chamber with great and diverse experience, contributing to the quality of legislation.
He said the Senate has played a role of a linchpin in forging national unity and cohesion, providing a dependable platform to manage conflicts and dispute resolution among provinces with complete institutional legitimacy.
Speaker National Assembly Raja Pervez Ashraf said the golden jubilee celebrations of Senate indicate 50 years of Senate’s contribution to strengthening democracy and ensuring national cohesion. He said that this day also marked the achievements of parliamentary system and its contribution for development of country.
Talking about the inclusion of senators in the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), he said that it was also a historic development that had been achieved through systematic and consistent efforts.
“A bicameral legislature has become the necessity of multicultural federations since it best satisfies the needs of the federating units by giving them equal representation to participate in legislation and accountability processes,” Ashraf said.
Former senator Farhatullah Babar proposed the institution of two national registers to commemorate those who rendered sacrifices for upholding the constitution and to condemn those who subverted it.
A white “Register of Honour and Fame” to list those who drafted the constitution and defended it with their life and liberty and a black “Register of Horror and Shame” to record the names of those who suspended and subverted or sought to legitimize the subversion of the Constitution, he said.
Chairman Senate Sadiq Sanjrani said former chairmen and members of the Senate, speakers of the four provincial assemblies, chief ministers of provinces, prime minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, governor and chief minister of Gilgit-Baltistan, representatives of chambers of commerce and industries as well as bar councils, and foreign envoys working in Pakistan would address the three-day Senate session.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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