The 24th Constitutional Amendment, which has already been passed by National Assembly on Nov 16, has been stuck in the opposition-dominated Senate, leaving the government in a catch-22 situation as it needs the support of a minimum of 69 members to get the constitutional amendment bill passed from a 104-member Senate.
After exhausting a 34-point long agenda of the day, the chairman Senate - who resumed session after a delay of 20 minute after a prayer break - asked Leader of the House in Senate Raja Zafarul Haq what the House should do with agenda item numbers 32 and 33 - 'The Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2017.'
Raja Zafar requested the chair to defer the bill till Nov 22 (Wednesday) as the government could not ensure the required number of the senators to vote on the bill. Then the chair deferred the bill till Wednesday.
The treasury senators who were present in the house included Raja Zafarul Haq, Kamran Michael, Javed Abbasi, Ayesha Raza Farooq, Muhammad Hamza, Hamdullah, Lieutenant-General Abdul Qayyum (retd), Nisar Muhammad, Ghous Baksh Niazi, Mir Kabir, Sajid Mir, Zafarullah Khan Dhandla, Saud Majeed and Taj Muhammad Afridi.
On opposition benches were: PPP's Taj Haider, Farhatullah Babar and Karim Khawaja, PTI's Shubli Faraz, NP's Jahanzeb Jamaldini, ANP's Shahi Syed and MQM-P's Colonel Syed Tahir Hussain Mashhadi (retd) were present.
Minister for Law and Justice Zahid Hamid was also seen in the house but he later left after he realized that the required number of senators to pass the bill was not there.
Later, speaking on a point of public importance, JUI-F Senator Hamdullah, PPP"s Farhatullah Babar, and Sajid Mir of ruling PML-N, implied that Islamabad protesters led by Khadim Hussain Rizvi might be dancing to the tune of people "involved in enforced disappearance of people."
Senator Babar called for disbanding the present Commission on Enforced Disappearances and replacing it with a new one with experts in investigations as its members. The proposed commission should also be required to make its report public, he added.
Senator Hamdullah of JUI-F said that a missing cleric of his party returned home safe and sound after the Senate took up the matter, but the identity of kidnappers remains a mystery.
The JUI-F cleric, who has a track record of using 'foul language' against women and most recently against women rights activist Marvi Sirmad in a TV talk show, deplored Khadim Hussain for using derogatory language against political leadership that also included religious leaders like Maulana Fazlur Rehman.
"Islam doesn't allow use of any foul language, but Molvi Khadim who is a religious leader is using foul language against all the religious and political leadership which has tarnished the image of all religious scholars," he said.
The JUI-F cleric also termed the the issue a 'collective mistake' of the Parliament, which some of the senators declared incorrect, saying the bill was passed by National Assembly and then it was ratified by the Senate.
"The Senate pointed out the mistake and then it was ratified, so the whole Parliament must not be blamed for it," said Ghaus Baksh Niazi of PML-N after Senator Hamdullah called upon Islamabad protesters to call off the protest as JUI-F chief had termed the issue a 'collective mistake'.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2017