The opposition has demanded that the newly minted National Security Policy (NSP) be brought to the table as the parliament and provincial governments were not taken on board.
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Senator Mian Raza Rabbani made the remark during the Senate session on Tuesday. Leader of the House Dr Shehzad Waseem responded that the NSP was already presented in the Parliamentary Committee on National Security, which was boycotted by the opposition, further noting that the policy was also introduced in the Senate Standing Committee on Defence.
The NSP was just one of several contentions brought to the table by the opposition during the Senate session.
Another issue raised was regarding the deployment of serving or retired armed forces officials in the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA). Jamaat-e-Islami Senator Mushtaq Ahmad had inquired about the number of armed forces members employed at NADRA during the question hour period in the session.
Responding to Ahmad’s query, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan said that NADRA had about 13,997 employees and six were deputation based only.
Ahmad, however, was not pacified by the answer and reiterated that he specifically inquired about the number of retired armed forces personnel working in NADRA, to which Rabbani said that Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed was the right person to answer the question.
The opposition was also irked by the absence of ministers in the session and prayed Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani to take a roll call for them to show up and answer the senators’ queries.
In this regard, opposition leader and PPP member Yousaf Raza Gilani said that the ministers should show up as the “whole burden” was placed on the state minister for parliamentary affairs. He furthered that during PPP’s regime, the prime minister himself answered questions in the house.
To this, Sanjrani said that Khan should bring the ministers so that fresh faces were seen, to which the latter responded that ministers showed up to the Senate session Monday and that over half the inquiries were answered.
The crossfire regarding Ahmad’s question about the armed forces continued as Khan said that the JI senator’s query was answered and a fresh question should be submitted.
Ahmad responded that the query was clear and stated that armed forces members were employed on good packages. He wondered why the state was not answering the question, adding that the youth in the country was unemployed.
Khan, in replying to Ahmad, said that the fresh question was not submitted, while questioning why the opposition detested the armed forces.
Rabbani jumped in to take on this sentiment, stating that the opposition was not against the armed forces but was standing against “militarisation of civilian institutions”. He pointed out that the heads of several notable organizations like the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF), Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (Suparco), Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (ERRA), Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda), Economic Advisory Council (EAC), Airport Security Force (ASF), and the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) were all part of the armed forces.
To all this, the state minister maintained that the query was answered, while Dr Waseem said that the military was a part of the country.
Other concerns raised in session included the state of Pakistan Railways. Railway Minister Azam Swati lamented that the institution was once profitable but dwindled due to political employment. He stated that it was ironic how a Grade 17 officer had six railway employees in his house.
Gilani furthered on the matter that railway patrollers had been in service for a decade and wondered whether they would be rehabilitated. Swati responded to Gilani and said that the department was overstaffed but if an employee’s rights were tampered with, they could approach the railway minister.
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl’z (JUI-F’s) Abdul Ghafoor Haideri meanwhile said that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had failed to live to its promise to provision jobs to the people, with Swati responding that the government was meant to curate opportunities not jobs.
Swati also took on a query related to Main Line 1 (ML-1), which was brought up by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N’s) Afnanullah Khan. Swati said that they were waiting on the Chinese government’s response, who were requested for a $2.43 billion for the project. The total cost of the project, Swati revealed, was $6.8 billion with the PM having created a financing committee, which had already held nine meetings with four Chinese officials.
