Defending his party’s move to hold the upcoming election of the upper house of the parliament through open ballot, Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has spoken of bribes paid to buy loyalties, revealing that he himself had been offered some.
“Money goes to the very top,” the premier said while speaking to media on Friday.
According to Dawn, PM Imran claimed that 20 members of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Assembly belonging to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) were paid Rs50 million each during the last Senate poll to vote in favour of certain candidates.
Saying that the parties opposing the amendment aimed at curbing corruption would stand exposed, he added the PTI had expelled the 20 members after they were found guilty of horse-trading by an investigation committee.
“We also know who is raising money to buy loyalties this time,” he said, without naming anyone.
He termed the practice “betrayal” with Pakistan because the Senate had a particular “status and role” since it represented the provinces in the federation.
The premier said it reflected poorly on the kind of people who came to the Senate through money and questioned the ability of such lawmakers to represent their respective provinces. “Apart from that, what kind of democracy is this where legislators sell their vote by taking money?” he asked.
Acknowledging that his government did not have a two-thirds majority in the lower house, the premier said the ruling party would still try to present the amendment for open ballot in the Senate elections to curb horse-trading.
Senator Taj Muhammad Afridi is the richest member of the Senate with assets worth Rs1.22 billion, as the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) issues details of assets owned by the members of the Senate in 2019-20.
According to details, Taj Muhammad Afridi owns assets worth Rs1.22 billion which also included over Rs160 million worth assets abroad.
Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani owned assets worth Rs106.3 million which included properties in Pakistan worth over Rs50 million, besides owning four vehicles. Deputy Chairman Saleem Mandviwalla owns assets worth Rs67.7 million.
According to details of the assets owned by members of the treasury benches, Federal Minister Azam Swati owns assets worth over Rs810 million, followed by Farogh Naseem, who possesses assets worth Rs400 million.
Information Minister Shibli Faraz has assets up to Rs46.7 million, Leader of the House in Senate Shehzad Waseem owns assets worth over Rs200 million while his wife also possesses assets worth Rs170 million. Senator Faisal Javed holds assets worth Rs10 million, whereas Muzafar Hussain Shah of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-F) owns assets worth Rs30 million.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Senator Chaudhry Tanveer owns agricultural land of Rs36.7 million, non-agricultural land of Rs47.4 million, besides having Rs37.9 million in bank accounts and furniture worth Rs2.5 million.
Mushahidullah Khan possesses plots worth Rs7.5 million, shares of Rs65,000 in stocks and jewellery worth Rs0.8 million. He also owns Rs3.1 million in bank accounts.
Senator Abdul Qayyum owns assets including land worth Rs86.4 million. Senator Pervaiz Rasheed does not own any assets in the country and abroad and only has Rs3.3 million in bank accounts. Senator Raja Zafarul Haq showed only Rs50,000 in the bank accounts without having any property in his name.
PPP Senator Rehman Malik owns foreign assets worth 1.3 million pounds while his wife also possesses 50 tolas of jewellery worth Rs2.7 million.
Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar owns immovable properties worth Rs120 million, besides having shares of Rs5 million in stocks, vehicles worth up to Rs38.4 million and Rs23.4 million in bank accounts.
Raza Rabbani revealed assets worth millions of rupees including Rs15.3 million investments in the business, Rs6.2 million worth gifted property, besides owning millions in bank accounts. He also paid an income tax of Rs1.5 million.
Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Senator Sirajul Haq is amongst the poorest Senators as he has inherited 12 kanals of land, investments of Rs361,000 in a business and Rs600,000 in bank accounts.
Senator Talha Mahmood of the JUI-F owns Rs90 million in bank accounts, vehicles worth Rs44.8 million, besides properties worth Rs160 million. He also has investments of Rs27 million and further had other assets worth Rs33 million.
Abdul Ghafoor Haideri of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) has revealed assets worth over Rs6.3 million.
Military officials will this week be briefing parliamentary leaders from both the National Assembly (NA) and Senate on national security issues.
According to a statement issued by the NA, the military officials will brief the parliamentarians in a meeting called by NA Speaker Asad Qaiser, who will also be the chair. It will take place in Committee Room Number 2 at 2 pm on Wednesday.
اسپیکر قومی اسمبلی نے قومی اسمبلی اور سینٹ میں پارلیمانی رہنماؤں کا اجلاس طلب کر لیا۔
اجلاس اسپیکر قومی اسمبلی اسد قیصر کی زیر صدارت 11 نومبر دوپہر 2 بجے کمیٹی روم نمبر 2 میں منعقد ہو گا۔
اجلاس میں عسکری حکام کی جانب سے قومی سلامتی کے موجودہ امور پر بریفنگ دی جائے گی۔
According to the NA’s Twitter account, invitations have been sent to PTI’s Parliamentary leader Shah Mahmood Qureshi, PML-N’s Khawaja Asif, PPP’s Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, MMA’s Asad Mahmood and PML-Q’s Tariq Bashir Cheema.
Furthermore, BNP-M’s Akhtar Mengal, MQM’s Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddqui and BAP’s Khalid Hussain Mangi have also been invited.
بلوچستان نیشنل پارٹی سے محمد اختر مینگل، ایم کیو ایم سے ڈاکٹر خالد مقبول صدیقی، بلوچستان عوامی نیشنل پارٹی سے خالد حسین مگسی کو اجلاس میں شرکت کی دعوت۔
جی ڈی اے سے غوث بخش خان مہر، عوامی مسلم لیگ سے شیخ رشید احمد اور عوامی نیشنل پارٹی سے امیر حیدر اعظم خان بھی مدعو۔
The NA also said that invitations have been sent out to GDA’s Ghous Bakhsh Khan Mehar, Awami Muslim League’s Sheikh Rashid Ahmed and ANP’s Amir Haider Azam Khan.
From Senate, invites have been sent to Mushahidullah Khan, Sherry Rehman, Muhammad Ali Khan Saif, Mir Akber Ahmed, Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haderi, Muhammad Usman Khan Kakar, Sirajul Haq, Sitara Ayaz, Dr Jahanzaib Jamaldini, Anwar ul Haq Kakar and Aurangzeb Khan.
The NA further said that federal ministers Pervaiz Khattak, Ijaz Ahmed Shah, Ali Amin Gandapur, Shafqat Mahmood, Asad Umar, Shibli Faraz. PM’s adviser Babar Awan and SAPM Dr Moeed Yusuf have also been asked to attend the session.
اٹارنی جنرل خالد جاوید خان، گورنر گلگت بلتستان راجہ جلال حسین مقپون اور قائم مقام وزیر اعلی گلگت بلتستان میر افصل کو خصوصی شرکت کے لیے دعوت نامہ جاری۔
اجلاس میں صدر آزاد جموں کشمیر سردار مسعود خان اور وزیر اعظم راجہ فاروق حیدر خان کو بھی خصوصی شرکت کی دعوت۔
Meanwhile, Attorney General Khalid Javed, interim CM of GB Mir Afzal, AJK President Masood Khan and AJK PM Raja Farooq Haider have also been sent special invitations.
The National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Law and Justice has approved a bill allowing one-month paternity leave to fathers on the birth of their child.
According to reports, the bill says the mother will get a six-month leave and the father will be eligible for a leave of one-month on the birth of their first child. On the birth of the second child, the mother will get a four-month leave and the father will get a one-month leave.
The father will also get a one-month leave for their third child’s birth and the mother will get a three-month leave.
The bill that will be applicable only in Islamabad also states that the father will be able to get paternity leaves for the birth of the first three children only.
“The law will apply to all government and non-government institutions in the federal capital,” said Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) lawmaker Shazia Marri.
Taking to Twitter, the lawmaker from Sanghar said the bill was moved by Senator Quratulain Marri, her sister, a year ago.
Extremely happy and immensely proud to share that two important bills moved by Senator @Anny_Marri have finally been passed by the NA standing committee on Law & Justice after their passage from Senate. Bills were passed after a year & half’s hard work. So proud of you ❤️ pic.twitter.com/WlGM1yVtJw
“Extremely happy and immensely proud to share that two important bills moved by Senator Quratulain Marri have finally been passed by the NA standing committee on Law & Justice after their passage from Senate,” she wrote.
Under the laws applicable to the provinces of Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Balochistan, mothers are granted a maternity leave of 12 weeks. In contrast, Sindh allows for a maternity leave of 16 weeks.
According to Section 4 of West Pakistan Maternity Benefit Ordinance, 1958, the maternity leave is awarded with full pay. The qualifying condition is that the women must be working in enterprise at least four months prior to the date of delivery of her child.
The Senate had in January this year passed the Maternity and Paternity Leave Bill, 2018, which made it mandatory for employers to grant paid maternity and paternity leave to employees.
Senior PTI leader Senator Faisal Javed Khan in an exclusive conversation with The Current revealed the monthly income of a Senator.
When asked how much money he earns, Senator Faisal said, “My salary is 150,000.”
Later, while responding to a question that ‘senators only enjoy perks and do nothing’, Senator Javed said”No, things have changed. It is true that they do not have any constituency but those involved in legislative business and committees, work really hard.”
“Believe me, our days fly by in meetings, technical stuff, debates, overall legislative business etc. Sometimes we have a lot on our plate and have to work over the weekend too,” he continued.
“Some like-minded senators of ours are doing a lot of things together. And there’s a lot to do,” he concluded.
Lahore Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Umar Sheikh once again found himself in trouble when talking to the Senate Functional Committee on Human Rights to talk about the motorway gang-rape case on Monday.
There seemed to be discordant information about the authorities’ response time to the victim’s distress call when her car broke down on the M11 Motorway. The CCPO said that it took approximately 28 minutes to reach the area, while the officers who actually responded to the distress call said that they reached the area in under six minutes.
The purpose of the hearing was to discuss the case regarding the horrible gang-rape and mugging of a mother travelling with her children at night on the Lahore-Sialkot motorway. The incident led to country-wide protests and calls for reforms in laws pertaining to sexual assault, specifically with a call for public hangings of the perpetrators.
CCPO Sheikh said during the hearing that the woman was travelling without her husband’s permission, but soon thereafter admitted this was just a “guess”. He was reprimanded by Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Senator Krishna Kumari Kohli, a member of the Senate committee, who also told him not to make any such assumptions in the future.
When the committee reprimanded him for giving his “personal opinions” instead of stating facts of the case, Sheikh backtracked and said that “he had been told that the victim had left late at night because she had to talk to her husband on video call”.
The CCPO found himself in even hotter water when he forgot the name of the prime suspect in the case. Abid Ali has been on the run for the past 20 days and the eight special teams — comprising personnel from all of the Punjab Police’s departments — have failed to apprehend despite spotting him at least thrice across the province.
Sheikh said, “If [police helpline] 15 had received the call, we could have reached that place in 25 minutes. The first call to 15 was at 2:47 am made by a passerby and the 15 officials reached at 3:15 am” while addressing the committee.
In reply, Marri said either the CCPO lacked the correct information or the committee had been misled.
“The call came at 2:47 am and the first [Dolphin Force] officer arrived at 2:53 am. I’m telling you the 100% truth,” the CCPO responded.
“Then your cops are lying,” Marri shot back at him.
“My job is to stop the crime and catch the culprits,” Sheikh replied. “Neither is there a CCTV [camera] at the toll plaza nor is an actual toll tax receipt given.”
“Five technologies were used in the motorway rape case; geo-fencing, DNA filing, and fingerprint technology. Even the American police do not respond [to a crime] in six minutes,” he added.
The committee members expressed anger over the contradiction in the police officer’s statement.
“You say the police arrived at the scene in 28 minutes but the police said they had reached in six minutes,” the committee said. “The police tried to misguide the committee”.
The CCPO’s repetitive apologies seemed to further irritate the committee.
https://youtu.be/ClY85ZLGsFU
“The CCPO only apologised out of fear of the court,” PkMAP Senator Usman Kakar said.
Sheikh told the committee that Abid’s data had successfully been found from the Punjab Forensic Science Agency’s (PFSA) 2013 records. “The first case of Daniel Pearl in Pakistan was solved with [the use of] DNA,” he said.
To which, Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, the chairperson of the Senate committee, asked why Abid had been released. At this, Lahore’s top cop simply sought forgiveness once more.
“Babar Malhi’s blood and DNA have also matched,” he said.
At which, the committee members paused, in shock, and asked: “Babar Malhi or Abid Malhi? Is the main suspect [named] Abid or Babar? You are investigating this case and you don’t know the name of the main suspect.”
At this point, the shaken officer cited his age as an excuse for his poor memory and continued to seek forgiveness from the committee, repeatedly apologising to all members of the hearing. He even went as far as to say a joint session should be summoned so he can apologise to all lawmakers at once.
He also talked about his desire to bring “court-martial law” into the Punjab police forced, touted himself as someone “who wishes to bring reforms”, and blamed leaks on his 500 people strong police force.
He further tried to shift part of the blame in the insufficient response to the call to the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO).
“In this case, too, an FWO officer was taken on the woman’s conference call. He told her he would send a car,” he said. “That car was on the M2 [motorway] and it took a long time to reach the site.”
“The crux of the matter is that this alert should have been to 15,” he added.
Speaking to The Current, Khokhar separately said that he was shocked over the CCPO’s statements. “His mix-ups have created confusion over the police response time.”
Lahore Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Umer Sheikh, who recently made headlines for his controversial statements regarding survivor of the Lahore-Sialkot motorway gang-rape victim, can be arrested if he continues to ignore the summons from the upper house of the parliament.
As per the details, Senate Committee on Human Rights has dismayed over the absence of Lahore top cop who had been directed by the body to appear in person during its Wednesday meeting. Other than not appearing before the human rights body of the upper house, Sheikh did not notify any reason either.
CCPO Lahore has been issued summons to appear on the 28th under powers of a civil court vested in the committees to enforce attendance and production of documents. His non-appearance and stark failure of police to provide public reps with basic info has resulted in this. pic.twitter.com/DIrW03U4hO
Irked over the cop’s absence, the committee chairperson, Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, has said that it is unacceptable.
While the committee has reportedly decided to submit a privilege motion against the CCPO and issued summons to ensure the officer’s presence at its next hearing, Khokhar has also hinted at the possibility of arresting the cop in case of continued absence.
Speaking to senior journalist and analyst Hamid Mir, Khokhar said that the committee “will issue CCPO’s arrest warrants” if needs be.
Standing Committee of Senate on Human Rights summoned CCPO Lahore today in its meeting he never appeared in meeting Chairman of the committee @Mustafa_PPP said “we will issue his arrest warrants” Govt member Ali Nawaz Awan said we will support arrest warrants #RemoveCCPOLahorepic.twitter.com/8vRvzVXMZ0
“Despite public outrage, the CCPO hasn’t had the courtesy to appear before public representatives. If he doesn’t appear, we will have no other option than to issue his warrants,” he said, adding that all committees of the parliament can do so owing to the powers vested in them under the constitution.
Opposition absentees outnumbered their counterparts on the treasury benches during the joint sitting of parliament on Wednesday, which passed three bills related to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), official records revealed Thursday.
According to The Express Tribune, the attendance record released by the National Assembly Secretariat showed that more than two dozen opposition lawmakers did not turn up for the joint sitting, including 13 from Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and 11 from the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).
From the treasury side, those conspicuous for their absence were Asim Nazir, Amir Liaquat Hussain, Ahmed Hussain Dehar and Abdul Majeed Khan of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), and Chaudhry Moonis Elahi of the Pakistan Muslim League.
In the parliamentary session, 317 members of National Assembly, out of the Lower House’s current strength of 340, were present. From the Upper House of parliament, which currently has 103 members, around 14 opposition senators were absent.
The prominent absentees included former president Asif Zardari, who did not attend because of illness and Syed Khurshid Shah, who is in the custody of the National Accountability Bureau. Besides these two top PPP lawmakers, Sardar Akhtar Mengal of the Balochistan National Party (BNP), was also absent.
The list also includes Amir Haider Hoti of the Awami National Party (ANP), Ali Wazir, a lawmaker from the former tribal areas, Afrin Khan of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), PML-N’s Afzal Khokhar, Ahmad Raza Maneka, Ehsanul Haq Bajwa and Riaz Pirzada and the PPP’s Makhdoom Jamiluz Zaman, Amir Magsi, Khalid Loond, Roshan Junejo and Ghulam Ali Talpur.
According to the attendance record, the senators who skipped Wednesday’s joint sitting were PML-N senators Kulsoom Parveen, Chaudhry Tanveer, Shamim Afridi, Raheela Magsi, Saleem Zia, Dilawar Khan, Yaqub Nasir and Najma Hameed.
Other absentee senators were Talha Mahmood and Ataur Rehman of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, Rubina Khalid of the PPP, Sitara Ayaz of the ANP, Ashok Kumar of the National Party (NP) and Tahir Bizenjo and Shafiq Tareen of the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP).
PASSAGE OF FATF BILLS:
Earlier, the government on Wednesday managed to pass three crucial FATF-related laws in a joint session of the parliament that was marred by the opposition’s protests.
Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan also attended the joint session which was chaired by National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser. Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif, PPP chief Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, former premier Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and others, including senators Sirajul Haq, Mushtaq Ghani and Raza Rabbani among others were also in attendance.
After walking out in protest, opposition leaders held a joint press conference and criticised the government over the passage of FATF-related bills.
Opposition leader Shehbaz termed today as a “black day in the history of democracy”. He said that the government “crossed red lines” today and added that “until now, the opposition cooperated with the government for the sake of Pakistan”.
The PML-N president also said that the NA speaker had “disappointed everyone”.
PPP chief Bilawal also lashed out at the government, saying that the vote count could have been conducted again but the treasury members were “scared of being exposed”.
“The opposition only has one option remaining and that is [to move] a no-confidence [motion],” said Bilawal.
Both Shehbaz and Bilawal told reporters that the opposition will come up with a strategy in the multi-party conference.
Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has said he will seek an explanation from Senator Rehman Malik over his meeting with Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa.
“I will seek an explanation from Rehman Malik Sahib,” said Bilawal when a reporter asked him about the meeting between Malik and General Bajwa on Monday.
He added that the senator may have met the army chief as the chairperson of the Senate Committee on Interior. “But I will certainly ask him,” said Bilawal while speaking to reporters with Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman.
On Monday, PPP’s Senator Rehman Malik met the army chief in Rawalpindi. According to the military’s media wing, the two men discussed “matters related to defence and internal security”.
“Rehman Malik appreciated Pakistan Army’s success in bringing peace to the country and pledged support of the Senate Committee on Internal Security towards consolidating the gains,” the army said a statement.
Meanwhile, Bilawal on Tuesday had a busy day in Lahore as after meeting Fazl, he also went to see Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif.
Among other things, the two discussed the current political situation in the country and the opposition’s plans of launching another anti-government campaign after Eid.
The Senate House Committee has ordered the Capital Development Authority (CDA) to open a beauty salon at Parliament Lodges for women lawmakers “as soon as possible”, Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) reported.
The committee, headed by Senate Deputy Chairman Saleem Mandviwalla, gave the directions after Senator Kulsoom Parveen said that despite clear directions from the convener of the committee to consult her and Samina Saeed for the allocation of a place for the salon in Parliament Lodges, the CDA officials had not bothered to contact either of them.
The chairman directed CDA to solve the issue on priority with consultations of the two senators.
Regarding complaints of different senators about their accommodation in Parliament Lodges, the Senate deputy chairman directed CDA officials to contact senators and solve their issues with immediate effect.
He also reminded CDA that directions to make a financial plan about repair and maintenance work of the lodges were given but were not implemented.
Regarding budget, the committee was informed that Rs319 million were allocated for repair and maintenance work of the lodges whereas the agency had spent Rs203 million so far.
Senator Samina Saeed, while referring a media report, pointed out that water supply in the Parliament House and Parliament Lodges was substandard.
She pleaded the Senate deputy chairman to direct CDA to ensure purified water supply and ensure the delivery of electricity bills to parliamentarians at least seven days ahead of the due date.
