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06-08-2016, 05:31 AM
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MPs stay off from cold NA halls in budget session
View from the Gallery
A majority of our easy-going legislators are **t eager to make it to the chilling-freezing hall of the National Assembly for a crucial budget session, even when millions of their voters continue to brave harshest of weather, unbearable load-shedding in this “land of the pure”. All this at a time when people desperately seek an end of power outages and members of the Lower House complain about chilling conditions. Some may argue, the holy month of Ramadan coinciding with budget session may be a reason behind this very low turn up. But then Parliamentarians have duties and obligations towards the masses that observe fasting and work for a living in harshest of weather without any break. And contribute taxes to the national kitty, and pay for perks and salaries of legislators to enable them to work for public good. For the moment, government has to get 2016-17 budget through in days, so the onus is on them to gather members around. At the moment, the treasury is faced with a streak of attendance related embarrassments – almost all self-inflicted. And at a time when Premier Sharif is away recovering from a major surgery, heavyweight ministers take almost ** interest in parliamentary affairs, and PML-N leadership has seemingly abandoned the traditional parliamentary party meetings. Such meetings in the past acted as attendance magnets as chief whips and ministers for parliamentary affairs used to mark attendance of usual suspects. **t anymore. For the second day in a row as important speeches of Opposition’s parliamentary leaders were already lined up, the parliamentary affairs minister Sheikh Aftab seemed clueless. Perhaps, treasury legislators, especially backbenchers, don’t take the minister seriously. Or try to defy party discipline intentionally. Whatever may be the case, this is a state of affairs of the Lower House of Parliament. Only 28 members were present as the proceedings kick started in the morning hours, forcing the speaker to postpone for few minutes till quorum was complete. MQM’s Farooq Sattar bhai went into action immediately to deliver a speech left incomplete on Monday. Apart from some of his realistic assessment of budget proposals, and many unrealistic demands thereafter, he was blunt on Panama Papers related TORs wrangling. “**thing is going to happen, ** matter what types of TORs opposition come up for Panama Papers investigation,” Farooq Bhai summed up. Sitting nearby, the opposition front rows, especially the PTI lot could only fume. Many of them suspect from the outset, MQM could favour or tilt towards PML-N during TORs finalization by a 12 member treasury-opposition committee. At that time, PTI tried its best to keep MQM out of the committee under a pretext that it wasn’t part of the combined opposition in Parliament. But MQM having 30 plus legislators in both the Houses finally made it to a committee where PML-Q had already booked a seat through mere 4 members. Facing a political challenge of Mustafa Kamal and company, bogged down by Karachi operation, and then the minus-one formula haunting their ranks continuously, MQM doesn’t want to alienate itself from PML-N dispensation, which is equally wary of suspected political ambitions of powers that be. PTI’s tough talker leading lights and Sheikh Rashid Ahmed tread an aggressive line, employing a desperate body language and tone at times. Famous for his many unrealized political predictions, Sheikh Rashid is the best performer, heart throb of television talk shows which are low on ratings. So as expected, he went into a firing mode from the outset of his speech. Rashid predicted the PML-N government will implode, but was careful **t to attach any timeline. “The nation doesn’t care if this assembly survives or ceases to function,” Rashid told the treasury in a bitter tone as some of them hooted in anger. And then he came up with some catchy stuff, we will see him repeating in many talk shows to come. Latest one: “Bhasha Dam wont be completed in my lifetime”. Politically, Rashid was firm that the opposition would **t back down till the PML-N and allies agree that Premier Sharif and family will present them for accountability first. Rest of the opposition faces (having off shore companies) will get queued afterwards. A shrewd political worker who rose to prominence through unlimited politicking and hard work, Rashid k**ws fully well that Panama Papers is loosing steam with each passing day. Ramadan days, in run upto Eid could be politically dull. That’s why we hear repeated but muted ultimatums of protest on streets by the PTI first to third tier as Panama Papers TORs formulation for judicial inquiry enter its crucial, make or break stage. At present, it can best be described as strengthening one’s bargaining position. On this day in the National Assembly, the pick of opposition’s criticism was Asad Umar’s deliberations on Ishaq Dar’s budget. A confident of party chief, Asad has almost made it to the top tier through shere hard work, and ‘persuasive’ skills. His brother Zubair Umar adopted the same strategy to become part and parcel of u**fficial media team led Maryam Nawaz, and state minister for privatization. A financial wizard of PTI, Asad frequently makes it to the talk shows to take on follies of the government, brother Zubair defends Sharifs with same zeal. Asad is also one of those leading legislators who is sure Ishaq Dar’s budget figures are **t reliable. And thanks to the new found ceasefire cum working relationship PTI and PPP enjoy, Asad had some praise for the last PPP regime too – on foreign direct investment, and in terms of overall national debt -- in comparison with situation at hand. Dar’s eco**mic model, for him, doesn’t lead the nation anywhere. On energy, he is sure, ** end to load-shedding in years to come. But one thing missing in Opposition’s rhetoric, deliberations, criticism on budget. They never come up with a shadow budget even though every other speech of PTI chief mentions western governance practices. Any guidelines for party leaders regarding Shadow budget preparations, Mr Khan? Or the idea is too westernsied to ig**re? أكثر... ??????? ??????: MPs stay off from cold NA halls in budget session || ??????: ahlam1399 || ??????: اسم منتداك
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