ISLAMABAD, Dec 22: A meeting of the Senate standing committee on privileges was cancelled on Wednesday at the last moment, averting a possible accountability of National Accountability Bureau Chairman Lt-Gen Munir Hafiez
, for what the senators claimed was a deliberate attempt to defame politicians.
Leader of the Democratic Alliance in the Senate, Raza Rabbani, told Dawn that the government probably had second thoughts and did not want to embarrass the NAB chairman.
No date was given to the committee members for the next meeting to ascertain if the claims made by the secretary-general of the ruling party, Senator Mushahid Hussain, which refuted allegations of the NAB against his person were true or the stance taken by NAB.
The Senate committee, vested with powers of issuing strictures against government servants, had asked Lt-Gen Munir Hafiez to appear before it on Wednesday and explain the Bureau's position regarding furnishing of what the senators said was wrong information to the Senate.
The Senate was told in reply to a question by PPP Senator Farhatullah Babar on December 1 that the Bureau had registered cases against four federal ministers and chairmen of House standing committees.
PML Secretary General Syed Mushahid Hussain was also mentioned in the NAB list and it was claimed that a "case had been registered" against him for misuse of authority in February 2000 which was closed in May 2002.
Senator Raza Rabbani said the cancellation of the meeting was done with an ulterior motive to prevent the public accountability of the NAB. "I think the chairman of the standing committee was at a fault to cancel the meeting," he said.
The senate committee on privileges is headed by a senator of the MQM, a coalition partner in the government. The leader of the Democratic Alliance in the Senate said the cancellation of the meeting pointed out the government's intention of putting the matter in the cupboard and to let moth gather around it.
Senator Rabbani said the NAB was deliberately targeting politicians by singling them out and the probe would have exposed the highhandedness of the bureau in maligning the politicians.
Meanwhile, the Peoples Party Parliamentarians (PPP) has deplored the cancellation of the Senate body meeting to probe NAB allegations against parliamentarians and demanded immediate meeting of the body.
"The abrupt and late night cancellation of the scheduled meeting of the Senate privileges committee to quiz the chairman and other officials of the NAB has raised serious questions as to whether NAB was avoiding facing investigation by the parliamentary committee probe," said Senator Farhatullah Babar, the PPP spokesman, in a statement.
The PPP demanded that the government must come clean on why the scheduled meeting was cancelled abruptly and without assigning any reason after formally inviting some two dozen senators besides the government officials to it who had already arrived in the capital.
The cancellation of the meeting through midnight telephone calls and letters without assigning any reason and without fixing a new date needs to be probed, he said. The press statement said Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Dr Sher Afgan, admitted on the floor that the NAB reply was incorrect. This created uproar in the Senate with the senators demanding probe into the NAB reply.
The Deputy Chairman Senate Commander Khalil immediately referred the matter to the Senate Privileges Committee which was scheduled to meet on Wednesday. Chaired by MQM Senator Prof Muhammad Saeed Siddiqui the privileges committee of the Senate includes Senators Naeem Hussain Chattha, Babar Khan Ghori, Justice Abdul Razzaq Thahim, Kamil Ali Agha, Asfandyar Wali, Mian Raza Rabbani and Muhammad Ismail Buledi. Law Minister Wasi Zafar is the ex-officio member of the committee.
Twelve other senators moved privilege motion along with Senator Farhatullah Babar who had raised the question in the Senate. Senator Farhatullah Babar said the party would demand that the NAB chairman should personally attend the meeting and give answers to the questions which have been raised by the incorrect replies given by the Bureau to the Senate.
