The members of the treasury benches on Friday called the Opposition members in the Upper House of the Parliament to unite for fighting national challenges with consensus.
The Senate session started debate with the two-point agenda of tabling the copy of the President’s address before both the Houses during the joint session on April 18th and the motion of thanks to extend the House’s gratitude to the President for his address to the joint sitting of the Parliament.
The meeting of the Upper House of the Parliament commenced with the recitation of the verses of the sixth chapter of the Holy Quran “Al-An’am” in which the Almighty commanded the Holy Prophet (PBUH) to not associate himself with those who create divisions within the religion and proclaim that he is blessed with following of the true religion, the right path of truth and the Lord will reward them who do associate others with Him. Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Senator Azam Nazeer Tarar moved the agenda second item of laying on the table of the House copy of the Address of the President made under clause (3) of Article 56 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to the joint session of the Parliament.
The Chairman Senate ruled the action against the agenda being late.
Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians (PPPP), Senator Sherry Rehman while taking at the floor, extended her felicitations to the Chairman for holding the maiden proceedings after his charge in an exemplary manner.
“President Zardari’s suggestion should be welcomed as he has invited all political parties while giving them the discretion to decide to turn a new page in the history of the nation by according unity for the national cause,” she said.
The PPPP Senator underlined that her party had rendered sacrifices but never tainted the honour and prestige of the state. “PPP claims with honour that no witch hunting and political vindication done in any of its tenure,” she added.
Senator Rehman queried the Opposition benches, “Do we need to start our new parliamentary year with conflicts and bitterness and is it that we want?”
She added that it was important and crucial for members of the Parliament to give respect to each other and consider the Parliament the only and the best forum for dialogue to improve the future of the country.
She maintained that countries could never be secured through narrative and image building, infuriating the youth and running social media campaigns against the state interests.
The Chairman also welcomed a group of 33 members from Mehergarh Youth Leadership from Islamabad who were witnessing the House proceedings.
Senator Khalil Tahir Sandhu of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) said the leaderships of Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto through the 18th Constitutional Amendment paved the way for the minorities to become members of the Senate which was abandoned to them in the past.
He felicitated the Chairman Senate for declaring August 11th as a symbolic minorities’ day as the then Prime Minister.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)’s Barrister Syed Ali Zafar also extended felicitations to Chair for assuming the office.
He said the Senate is based on equal representation of the country but unfortunately senators from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) have not been given representation so far. He enshrined his trust in the chair for giving equal rights to all the members as he was the guardian of the House.
Barrister Zafar urged the Chairman Senate to run the house strictly as per the rules as to debate and differ was an unalienable right of the members and it entailed responsibility to mind one’s words during occasions of discourse on the floor of the House.
“The biggest duty is that criticism should be taken with open hearts and patience because the Opposition will have harsh criticism based on logic and reason and will debate with responsibility,” he said.
He mentioned that Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah gave the concept of a plural democracy based on rule of law, good governance, unity and diversity and a society built on tolerance. However, the decision and policy makers would have to resolve extremism and illiteracy through education, he added.
“Mr Jinnah in 1947 called for imparting scientific and technical education to our people but we failed. We need to tackle the menace of poverty to eradicate extremism and illiteracy,” he added.
Senator Jam Saifullah Khan said that it was need of the hour to show unity among all political parties to address all major issues confronting the country on a priority basis.
Addressing the Upper House during maiden debates and the motion of thanks here Friday, he suggested that all political parties should close the chapter of political revenge from each other and stop the hurdles on the path of development and growth of the state, whereas constructive and positive criticism would be welcomed from the Opposition.
Khan highlighted the sacrifices of Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) and Awami National Party (ANP) in the past in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa during the war on terror.
Senator Irfan ul Haq Siddique while participating in the debate on a motion of thanks on the presidential address, said that Syed Yousuf Raza Gillani would be better for the Chairmanship of Senate.
He also invited the Opposition to come forward and join hands with the government benches for the sake of the country’s development and national economy.
“Currently, the country is facing many challenges at international level, so all political parties should shun personal political scoring and work for the state and citizens,” Senator Siddique said.
The Upper House, he said is also an institute of democracy to promote the voices of the people for the betterment of the country.
Moreover, the country is facing high inflation, the day to day increase in power and gas tariffs and price hike of petroleum products and daily use commodities, he added.
He maintained that it was the responsibility of all political parties to show unity among all political ranks to address the national issues.
Senator Jan Muhammad of National Partry urged on reconciliation and derided creating hurdles on reserved seats for women members of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
He said that extremism was a big issue of the country, the government should take practical steps to eliminate it. “Pakistan should also revisit its relationship with Saudi Arab, Iran and Afghanistan to cope with religious extremism,” he added.
Senator Jan demanded the decision makers to resolve pressing issues of extremism, terrorism, sectarian violence, and missing persons issue in Balochistan through political platforms.
Senator Mohammad Humayun Mohmand of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) felicitated Chairman Senate Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani on assuming his charge. He demanded the House to also discuss issues of the Opposition parties including PTI’s alleged politically fabricated cases.
Senator Bushra Anjum Butt of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz suggested that youth of the country needed positive motivation, whereas no constructive debate had been generated at the floor of the House for providing solutions to the massive problems of the youth bulge of the country.
Chairman Senate commended Senator Bushra Anjum for her convincing maiden speech at the floor of the House that left the entire gathering in silence during her address. He said that the House would learn from young members like her and would refine the ambience of the House for healthy debates.
Senator Muhammad Aslam Abro of PPPP said that PPP had sacrificed its top brass for the supremacy of democratic process in the country.
The Senate Session was adjourned to meet again on Monday (April 29th) at 1500 hours.
