LAHORE, Nov 20: Law Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan who had objected to the private life of Governor Salmaan Taseer and his family laid down his guns on Thursday and declared that they (the Taseers) were like his blood relations.
“The governor is like my brother, his daughters are like my daughters and his wife is like my sister,” the law minister said in the Punjab Assembly. He also announced that his party would be represented by a minister and some MPAs in a PPP procession that was taken out from the assembly to the Governor’s House later in the day to show solidarity with President Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani.
It was believed that the minister who wanted action against the governor and his family, had shown respect for them on the instructions of the PML-N leadership.
His announcement greatly pleased the PPP camp, making Senior Minister Raja Riaz smile. The PPP stalwart looked triumphantly towards PML-Q’s Leader of the Opposition Chaudhry Zaheer who had challenged him to make the PML-N join the PPP procession rather than inviting his party to it.
PPP’s Qasim Zia appreciated the gesture by Rana Sanaullah and congratulated him for ending the controversy he himself had created.
Inviting the house to join the PPP procession, Raja Riaz said it was being taken out to support the PPP federal government against whom “the establishment is hatching conspiracies.”
Chaudhry Zaheer said the PPP and the PML-N were more required to show solidarity towards each other, asking as to who was stopping them from delivering when they enjoyed power in the country.
AGRICULTURE INCOME TAX: MPAs representing rural areas forgot their party affiliations when they opposed the federal cabinet’s decision of imposing the agriculture income tax under, what they said, the IMF pressure.
Law Minister Rana Sana agreed to their demand of fixing time for discussing the proposed tax and passing a resolution against it. But he said that it was the existing agriculture tax, and not the proposed agriculture income tax which was anti-farmers.
The MPAs included PML-Q’s (Forward Bloc) Siddique Baloch, PML-N’s Waris Kalloo and Shehzadi Umar Tiwana, and PPP’s Nazim Hussain Shah.
They said the farmers were already burdened with various taxes, and the high cost of inputs. “We will resist the tax, and even go to jails,” Nazim Hussain Shah said.
Speaker Rana Iqbal said there was no need to impose the tax in the presence of the agriculture tax.
QUESTION HOUR: The law minister, during the question hour, said the government was assessing the Police Order 2002 but it could not be amended till 2009 because of the constitutional protection given to it. Its flaws, including the separation of investigation from operational police, would be removed through the assembly after the expiry of this protection, he said.
He said the commissioners would consider revenue related matters without interfering in the affairs of the district governments, providing relief to people at local level.