The development comes following a meeting of a high-level government delegation, comprising Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and Leader of the House in Senate Raja Zafar-ul-Haq, which on behalf of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif gave an assurance to Rabbani that the cabinet members will ensure their presence in the House.
"The chairman [Raza Rabbani] has given an assurance that he would take his decision back and also chair the Senate session on Monday," Dar flanked by Raja Zafar-ul-Haq, PPP Senator Sherry Rehman and others told reporters after holding talks with Rabbani at his residence. He said the meeting with Rabbani held on the directions of the Prime Minister and that he conveyed a message of the Prime Minister to the chairman that all his demands would be met and the ministers would ensure their presence in both the houses of Parliament.
He said the issue of lack of quorum will also be addressed, adding that it only happens in Pakistan while in rest of the world the lack of quorum is not even pointed out. "Raza Rabbani is chairman of the Senate and he would continue his position. He is, was and will remain our chairman [Senate]....Raza Rabbani also contacted all the parliamentary leaders about his decision," Dar added. He said all the ministers would be strictly bound to give preference to parliamentary business. Rabbani had prorogued the Senate session on Friday in protest and also suspended his official duties.
However, the finance minister said the Senate session would be summoned again to meet on Monday, which will be chaired by Rabbani. Earlier, several attempts were made by different ministers, including Ishaq Dar as well as Speaker National Assembly Ayaz Sadiq, to convince Rabbani to end his boycott. The speaker National Assembly earlier in the day also made a telephonic contact with Rabbani and urged him to rescind his decision. Talking to Business Recorder, Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) Senator Farhatullah Babar said the entire Senate is behind Rabbani for his efforts to maintain dignity of the House.
"Not only a the opposition senators but the government members are also supporting him [Rabbani]," he said, adding the government is not giving due importance to the Senate. He said whenever there is a question relating to civil and military bureaucracy, "the government always subverts it in one or the other way." PTI's Senator Nauman Wazir Khattak said his party fully supports the chairman's stance, adding the ministers neither attend the Senate sessions nor honour their commitments.
He further said they give least importance to Senate as well as its standing committees. Colonel Tahir Hussain Mashhadi (Retd) of MQM said the whole house stands behind Rabbani and against the government and its ministers' attitude towards the Senate. "The Prime Minister must give a guarantee on floor of the House that his ministers will ensure their presence in the House and they will no longer treat the Senate lightly," he added. Awami National Party (ANP) Senator Ilyas Ahmad Bilour endorsed the views of the other members of the Senate and added that this was the first time that a sitting government is treating the Senate in such a way.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2017