November 21, 2006	Tuesday	Shawwal 28, 1427

ISLAMABAD, Nov 20: The hurriedly-called meeting of National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue on Tuesday for presentation of forensic report on March 2005 stock market crash will be missed by some major players.

The government’s dramatic move on Monday to convene the meeting on less than 18-hours notice without giving any time for preparation to the participants could only discourage a meaningful debate on the biggest national scam which inflicted $13 billion losses on small investors.

Members from the opposition parties also criticised the move. They said that first the government delayed the meeting indefinitely on Nov 13 and now it called it again on such a short-notice despite the fact that several members of the committee were in Lahore and Karachi.

“Sorry, I would not attend this meeting. I was just informed by a section officer on phone at 4pm on Monday and I have already pledged many commitments for Tuesday,” Dr Tariq Hassan, former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), told Dawn.

He said he should have been given at least 48 hours for preparation.

“I want to a have meaningful discussion on this important issue. How can I attend such a vital meeting on such a short notice?” Mr Hassan asked.

The Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) had crashed when Dr Hassan was head of the SECP. He had conducted investigations into the crash and also worked closely with an independent task force headed by Justice (Retd) Saleem Akhtar. He had also claimed in a White Paper in July this year that he had reached very close to some big fish when he was removed from his post.

Dr Hassan had accused Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance Dr Salman Shah and State Minister for Finance Omar Ayub Khan for putting pressure on him not to go ahead with his reform process as recommended by Justice Akhtar’s committee to safeguard small investors.

He had shown tough resistance and rejected the Finance Ministry’s version of the KSE crash and the SECP’s reform process in the last two meetings of the standing committee.

Dr Hassan’s absence from the meeting would provide an opportunity to the government to release the interim forensic report without any technical debate and any alternative view point.

Answering a query Dr Hassan said that in the last two meetings he was shouted at and was not allowed to speak.

Sources said that none of the members of Justice Saleem’s committee were likely to attend the meeting as most of them were in Karachi. A number of MNAs were also likely to miss the event.

Member of the committee and PML-N MNA Sardar Ayaz Sadique said that he would not be able to attend the meeting as he was in Karachi.

“The very way in which the government is dealing with such an important issue is smelling foul and shows its intentions. The government has made a joke of such an important issue,” he said.