In an unprecedented move in parliamentary history of the country, Chairman Senate Raza Rabbani on Thursday banned Defence Minister Khawaja Asif from entering the upper house during the ongoing session, for not ensuring his presence during the proceedings. Senate chairman who has been warning the ministers not to take the business of Upper House lightly for quite long, was compelled to bar the entry of the country's defence minister, a close aide of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, after he defied his orders for fourth consecutive time.
"The minister had been given adequate notice well before the commencement of the session, and his office was also informed that the item pertaining to his ministry will be taken up on January 21," he said before reading out his ruling. Rabbani regretted that despite repeated warnings, the minister continued the practice of remaining absent from the house, adding it first happened in April 20, then May 5, 2015, May 14, 2015, and November 10, 2015.
But, a short while ago when the minister was present in the house and he already knew that the agenda item belonging to his ministry was supposed to be taken up, Rabbani said, the minister disappeared, leaving him with no option but to exercise his discretionary powers to maintain the prestige and decorum of the house. The chairman kept displaying the green book of the constitution to the State Minister for Water and Power Abid Sher Ali, saying he knew what he has to do, when he suggested the chair to start the debate on the Chief of Army Staff's visit to Afghanistan, and the minister would then submit a written reply.
"The house will not be allowed to be taken hostage by an individual... and by submitting a written reply, he [Asif] is going to set a new precedence," he retorted in response to a submission by Abid Sher Ali that the minister has asked him to take notes and he would accordingly submit a written reply.
The chairman also suspended the proceedings of the house for ten minutes with directives to ensure the presence of the minister, but it could not be materialised. The chairman said that Asif could not be traced despite repeatedly attempts. Senator Taj Haider of Pakistan Peoples' Party (PPP) kept cracking jokes while addressing the chair by saying that 'the defence minister might not have been granted permission by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) to speak on the subject', to which, the chair said: 'Mr Taj, it's a serious business'.
Senators Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, Mushahiduallh Khan, including State Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Sheikh Aftab and State Minister for Water and Power Abid Sher Ali kept standing, requesting the chair not to exercise his powers and give the minister one more chance.
Aitzaz Ahsan, leader of opposition in Senate said that before starting a debate, the minister must clarify whether he was briefed by the Chief of Army Staff (CoAS) or some of his staff officers, adding any briefing by the staff officers of the army chief about his visit to Afghanistan would not be accepted.
TEACHERS' PROTEST Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, State Minister for Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD), informed the house that a committee headed by the chairman Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC) has been formed by Islamabad High Court (IHC) to look into the matter of protesting teachers seeking regularisation of their services.
Responding to a calling attention notice by Senator Sardar Muhammad Azam Khan and Muhammad Usman Kakar regarding the ongoing protest by teachers, working on daily wages in federal government educational institutions, the minister said the protest has wasted the precious time of students.
The minister said the number of permanent teachers in federal government educational institutions stood at 8076, while there are total 1364 contract teachers, who are protesting despite assurance by the government that the services will be regularised in light of the committee recommendations headed by the FPSC chairman. "The schools are functioning smoothly and we've also given salaries to teachers despite their protest and no one is going to lay them off. I've spoken to the principals of the schools concerned that their services must not be terminated as we're trying to resolve the issue on court's orders," he added.
Responding to a calling attention notice by Senator Sassi Palijo for not giving equal representation to smaller provinces and Fata in the governing council and functional membership of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (FBS), Minister for Climate Change Zahid Hamid said that under the Act, the government is not bound for provincial representation.
However, out of total seven members of FBS functional members, the Finance Minister has approved one member each from Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, three from Sindh while two members are from Punjab.