ISLAMABAD: Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani took on Tuesday serious notice of ministers’ absence during the question hour and warned that in future he would use his powers to take action against them.

In a rare on-the-spot ruling, he said the constitution and rules allowed him to issue orders prohibiting any member or minister from attending the session and he would not hesitate to exercise these powers.

Also read: Rabbani says he himself will check attendance register

He said he had no option but to suspend the question hour because 19 of the 23 questions related to Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, who had sent a request for grant of leave due to his foreign visit.

Senate seeks report on suicide attack on Sherpao

Mr Rabbani said he had come to know that the commerce minister (Khurram Dastagir) and the minister of state for federal education (Balighur Rehman) had been asked by the ministers concerned to respond to the questions on their behalf, but they had also informed the house that they would not be present in Islamabad.

In an apparent reference to the inauguration of a solar power plant in Bahawalpur by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, the chairman said he was unable to understand what the commerce and education ministers were doing there.

“The ministers have not fulfilled their responsibilities under Article 91(6) of the Constitution and such a situation in unacceptable,” he said, adding that he would not allow the Senate to become a “hostage”.

Quoting Article 91(6) of the Constitution, Mr Rabbani said the ministers and state ministers were collectively responsible to the National Assembly and the Senate. Similarly, he added, under the Senate rules, the ministers were bound to stay in the house when business related to their ministries was taken up.

He also asked the members to mention reasons for their absence in leave applications in future.

STRANGER IN HOUSE: The Senate chairman suspended a sergeant-at-arms when a stranger entered the house during the proceedings.

The man, stated to be from Sukkur, was immediately taken into custody and handed over to the special branch of police for interrogation.

According to sources, the man appeared to have mistakenly entered the hall because he had come to the Parliament House, and even Islamabad, for the first time.

ATTACK ON SHERPAO: Later the chairman allowed the members to speak on any matter of public importance through points of order.

PML-N Senator Nisar Mohammad Khan drew the attention of the house to last week’s suicide attack on former interior minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao and called for providing security to him.

He said Mr Sherpao, now MNA, had survived four suicide attacks, adding that it was responsibility of the state to provide security to its citizens.

Mr Rabbani directed Leader of the House Raja Zafarul Haq to seek details of the attack from the interior ministry and submit a report to the house on Thursday.

Earlier, speaking on points of order, the senators expressed sorrow over the death of 13 people when a bus carrying a wedding party was hit by high power transmission line in Dadu.

PPP’s Khalida Perveen, who raised the issue, said she had come to know that responsibility of the incident was being shifted from power department officials to the bus driver. She said the standard height of high tension line was around 50 feet, but in this case it was ignored. This caused the bus to touch the live wire.

The chairman referred the matter to the standing committee on water and power when the members called for a thorough investigation into the incident.

Mohsin Leghari, an independent senator from Punjab sitting on the treasury benches, drew the house’s attention to the alleged ignorance of the irrigation system by the provinces. He urged the federal government to assist the provincial governments in improving the irrigation system which was the backbone of agriculture. He also called for use of modern technology for irrigating crops.

Speaking on a point of order, PPP’s Rehman Malik urged the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulator Authority (Pemra) to take notice of violation of its code of conduct by media houses. He said Pemra came into action on issues relating to the armed forces and judges, but it failed to take action against those abusing politicians through their programmes.

The chairman observed that Pemra had laws and powers to take action, but it was “selective and incompetent”.

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Shaikh Aftab Ahmad laid before the house the Publication of Laws of Pakistan (Regulation) Ordinance, 2015.

Published in Dawn, May 6th, 2015

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