ISLAMABAD, Sept 18: The government on Monday prorogued the Senate and then reconvened it on Tuesday on a pending requisition of the combined opposition. It was learnt that the upper house was reconvened to fulfil legal requirements and the session will be prorogued the same day.

Journalists had boycotted the session to protest against Punjab chief minister’s ‘orders’ to cable operators across the province to stop a private TV channel. Most of the proceedings, therefore, went unreported.

The upper house, convened on September 12, spent most of the time debating the Balochistan situation in the aftermath of Nawab Bugti’s killing. While a winding up speech from the government was due, the session was prorogued.

Leader of opposition in the house Mian Raza Rabbani told Dawn that the government had convened the session for the sole purpose of getting the Protection of Women’s Rights bill passed. But since the bill was not okayed by the National Assembly, the Senate was prorogued, he said.

He clarified that opposition’s requisition was pending after government convened its own session within 14 days of submitting a requisition. But since the opposition’s requisition did not expire, the reconvening of the upper house was a legal requirement.

Earlier, the house passed an amendment bill to reduce the tenures of the chairman and members of the Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC) from five years to three, amid objections from opposition members.

The need to amend the FPSC ordinance 1977 had arisen when the outgoing FPSC chairman, Lt Gen (retd) Gulzar Kiani had developed policy differences with President Musharraf. Since there was no other way to remove him, it was decided to enact a law to change the tenure of the chairman and members across the board.

Speaking against the bill, Mian Rabbani said the combined opposition rejected the bill as it was presented with a mala fide intention. He said nearly 1,200 retired and serving army officers were currently heading various government departments which was against democratic norms.

He claimed that in the wake of the passage of the bill, the FPSC would become redundant.

Ilyas Bilour of the Awami National Party alleged that 85 generals were currently ruling the country and the 160 million people of Pakistan were their subjects. He said the bill was violative of constitutional provisions.

Dr Safdar Abbasi of the PPP Parliamentarians said the bill was the first piece of legislation since March. “This speaks of the government’s apathy towards the serious business of legislation,” he said.