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| India-Pakistan | |
| Senators tell army to stay within its constitutional limits | |
| 2015-11-13 | |
Speaking on points of order in Senate, the lawmakers recognised the sacrifices rendered by the security forces in the war on terror but maintained it was the responsibility of every citizen and institution of the country to protect the constitution. Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Senator Farhatullah Babar pointed out that government had backtracked on commitments regarding the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC); abolished Ministry of Human Rights and was still unable to appoint Foreign and Defence ministers which spoke volumes about poor governance on part of the government. However, he questioned the aptness of the ISPR statement on the issue as well. “Whether the announcement of government’s poor performance should come after corps commanders meeting? Isn’t it itself an example of poor governance?” he asked. Babar said that the military leadership should have conveyed their concerns in private. He said that poor governance was there in civil departments, judiciary and armed forces as well. He said that the way adopted by army commanders to raise the issue was wrong. He said that the army was fighting terrorism but there were questions which we never asked by anyone. “We never asked even about the names of foreign militants which the army every other day says it has killed in operations,” he said. Leader of the Opposition Aitzaz Ahsan said he was the biggest critic of the government’s performance but would, along with other opposition parties, always stand by the government. He endorsed the allegation of poor performance by the government but said the ISPR did not have any right to criticise the prime minister in public. The opposition leader noted that members from the ruling party were perhaps afraid as no one came from PML-N to raise voice in the National Assembly when Mehmood Khan Achakzai took up the issue. Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani reiterated that all the institutions should work within their ambit. He once again advised the government to call an in-camera session of parliament to discuss the issues relating to foreign policy and the national action plan (NAP). And in case government does not want to hold a joint session of parliament, Rabbani suggested, a special session of the Upper House be called behind the closed doors. Rabbani said that the institutions should work within their limits and adhere to rules of business in their ‘modes of communication’. Nauman Wazir from Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) said that government’s poor performance was evident and it had done nothing in FATA. Professor Sajid Mir said that the army had always tried to rule from behind the scene and made efforts to control affairs of the government. Army should remain within its limits and try not to become ‘supervisor’ of the civilian government, he said. Usman Kakar from the PkMAP said that the intelligence agencies were interfering in internal and external affairs of the country and the government should not compromise on supremacy of parliament. Senator Mohsin Laghari said be it earthquakes or floods, army is called because civil institutions are not capable of fully shouldering their responsibilities. However, he said, army should not have talked about governance in the public. The House also held discussion on the first biannual report on the implementation of National Finance Commission (NFC) award. Members emphasised the finalisation of new NFC award at the earliest. They said the new NFC award should transfer resources to the provinces not only on the basis of population and backwardness but also keep in view the sustainable development goals. Senator Sherry Rehman said that it was unfortunate that one of the provinces had not nominated members for the NFC award so far. | |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #1 Coming soon to a country near you? |
| Posted by: Vast Right Wing Conspiracy 2015-11-13 12:51 |