ISLAMABAD: Senate Chairman Mian Raza Rabbani directed senior officials of all ministries on Monday to ensure their presence during the house proceedings, saying he would personally check their attendance on a daily basis.

The directives were issued by Mr Rabbani during a brief sitting of the house which was adjourned till Friday morning without taking up any point on the agenda because of the ongoing joint session of parliament on the Yemen crisis.

Mr Rabbani, presiding over the first session as chairman, said he had directed the secretariat staff to place an attendance register in galleries. He said additional secretaries of the ministries whose business would be undertaken by the house would be required to sign it.

“After the session, I will myself check the register,” said Mr Rabbani, who had always protested as an ordinary opposition as well as the treasury member over the absence of ministers and their officials during the question hour and other business proceedings.

He said he had directed the secretariat to send letters to all ministers in this regard. “I hope that the Senate will not provide me any opportunity to use my powers and that of the Senate,” he added.

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Earlier, the senators remained confused throughout the day as the government did not cancel the regular session of Senate despite convening the joint sitting of parliament. It was perhaps for the first time in the country’s parliamentary history that one of the houses of the parliament was meeting side by side with the joint session.

Mr Rabbani administered the oath to four newly-elected senators from Federally Administered Tribal Areas.

He asked members to submit their names with priorities to the Senate secretary by Wednesday for their inclusion in the standing committees.

He said the committees were the soul of parliament and could hold institutions accountable.

The chairman, who could not preside over the sitting after his election on March 12 as he had to assume the charge of acting president, thanked the members for unanimously electing him. He vowed to defend and protect the parliament’s prestige and sovereignty.

Mr Rabbani said he was adjourning the session till Friday but he could convene it earlier if the joint sitting was over in a day or two.

Published in Dawn, April 7th, 2015

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