ISLAMABAD: The government and the opposition traded barbs in the Senate over distribution of standing committees, with the opposition threatening to boycott the committees and the government insisting that the committees would function even without the opposition.
As the house met here hours after election of Senators Saleem Mandviwala and Quratulain Marri, both from the PPP, as chairpersons of the standing committees on finance and revenue, and planning and development, respectively, PTI parliamentary leader in the house objected to what he called deviation from the parliamentary tradition of the opposition getting the committees having something to do with the government’s accountability.
He regretted that the committees sought by the opposition had been kept by the government and a decision that should have been taken by parliamentary leaders had been taken through a computer, saying it was unacceptable for opposition. “We do not recognise these committees. Go ahead, if you can run the house without the committees,” he remarked.
Barrister Ali Zafar urged the Senate Chairman to play his role in bringing the Leader of the House in the Senate and parliamentary leaders to the negotiating table. “Otherwise, we will be heading towards a crisis. Do not compel us to boycott the committees,” he said.
Leader of the Opposition in the Senate Syed Shibli Faraz said when Leader of the House and the Leader of Opposition discuss something, it has some sanctity. He referred to his brief meeting with the Leader of the House in which he proposed a formula of upholding the tradition being adhered to for over a decade.
He objected to the manner in which committees had been formed, adding that elections for the chairmanship of committees are never held and it becomes a mere formality after consensus emerges.
PPP’s parliamentary leader in the house Senator Sherry Rehman rejected the impression being created by the opposition about any irregularity in the process of committees’ formation.She recalled that in 2021, the then opposition had asked for standing committees on law and justice and interior, which were not given to it by the then PTI-led government.
