Walkouts mar Senate session: Ban on opposition leaders’ entry into Bajaur Agency
By Raja Asghar
ISLAMABAD, Jan 23: Senate proceedings on Monday were paralyzed by repeated opposition uproars as they staged walk outs twice to protest against a government ban on their leaders’ visit to the Bajaur tribal area.
The protests, resulting in the loss of a full private members’ day, came hours after authorities barred top opposition politicians from travelling to the Damadola village in the Bajaur Agency where the Jan 13 missile strike killed at least 18 people.
The opposition staged walkouts after the ruling coalition rejected its demand to discuss the travel ban on politicians on the ground that the two sides had already agreed to hold a debate on the Bajaur incident on Wednesday.
Opposition senators insisted the air strike in Bajaur and Monday’s government action of blocking opposition leaders from entering the tribal area were separate issues and should not be mixed.
The two opposition walkouts after angry exchanges between the two sides and absence of most of the ruling coalition members deprived the 100-seat house of the required quorum, forcing the chair to adjourn the house as many times.
The first adjournment was for only a brief break coinciding with Maghreb prayers but the second one caused the house to be adjourned till 4pm on Wednesday without taking up a single item on agenda set for the first private members’ day of the current session which began on Friday.
Former law minister Khalid Ranjha of the PML chaired the proceedings in the absence of Chairman Mohammedmian Soomro, who in turn became acting president after President Pervez Musharraf left for Dubai on Sunday at the start of a three-nation trip.
At the start of the proceedings, Farhatullah Babar of the People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPP) complained about politicians having been stopped from entering the Mohmand Agency well short of the adjoining Bajaur Agency. He was interrupted by Parliamentary Affairs’ Minister Sher Afgan Khan Niazi, whose opposition to any discussion on the matter led to an uproar, which was followed by the first opposition walkout and an adjournment for half an hour for lack of quorum.
The opposition agitated the matter again when the house reassembled, with leader of the house Wasim Sajjad supporting Mr Niazi argument against an immediate discussion on Monday’s incident while a debate had already been set for Wednesday and appeared to justify the ban, saying it was imposed for “security reasons”.
“People are being killed and you are talking about rules,” shouted PPP Senator Enver Baig as the house plunged into another uproar, during which Mr Sajjad, besides citing rules of procedures, retorted: “It is not sabzi mandi (vegetable market), we should follow the rules.”
The opposition senators marched out of the house for a second time after Mr Niazi went on quoting rules — hardly being heard amid opposition protests — and once said threateningly: “If they make noise, I will also make noise.”
Two opposition senators — PPP’s Abdullah Riar and Mohammad Ilyas Bilour of the ANP — stayed back in the house to point out the lack of quorum, which was proved correct by count ordered by the chair as only 22 members were present in the house at the time, compared to only 18 in the first count, but three less than the quorum.
