Islamabad, November 19, 2021: Responding to questions from the media after the Senate session, Parliamentary Leader of the PPP in the Senate, Senator Sherry Rehman said, “ instead of sending bills to committee as is the norm, the government introduced a sneaky supplementary agenda right before Juma prayers, which was clearly pre-planned and in direct contradiction to the assurances given to the Leader of Oppositions office that all bills will be as per agenda, and that they will go to standing committees.
“What was left of parliament in the Senate was destroyed today when the Treasury introduced a supplementary agenda at 12.35 PM on Friday, without laying bills, and summoning members they had kept back to bulldoze a person specific HEC bill and then introduced a NAB ordinance on the supplementary agenda , despite the absence of certain members due to the Friday prayers. This pre-planned and malicious move goes against all parliamentary norms with which business is conducted in the House,” she added.
Rehman said, “it is clear that by attacking the Senate the government is not ready to allow the provinces to speak and breathe, nor is it giving us the right to ask questions about Pakistan’s sovereignty, whether it is about the IMF or amnesty agreements. We are not allowed to question the government’s position on issues which have significant conseques on the future of our country. Sindh is being marginalized and its grievances are not being addressed. The government is evading its responsibilities as they are unwilling to hear us on vital issues of the census, water or any resource shared between the provinces. What is happening in the National Assembly and during Joint Sessions is worst than the kind of martial law assemblies that we have seen”.
“They are trying to make the Senate ineffective. The bills bulldozed today were not even circulated amongst the members. Even IMF has asked for bills to be passed, and is no long accepting legislation passed through ordinances. Unfortunately, this is the only way this government knows how to govern the country. Their malafide intent is obvious by how they tried to convert oppositions majority into minority but we will fight back on the floor of the Senate,” she added.
“The government is bulldozing bills in the Senate and is trying to bring National Assembly’s chaos here but we reject their artificial majority. We will not let them pass these bills without consultations, especially the bill regarding State Bank’s Autonomy,” concluded Vice President PPP, Senator Sherry Rehman
