Ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Senator Faisal Javed reaches the venue of a Kashmir Day event on a motorcycle.
Senator Javed reportedly sought a stranger’s help after his vehicle broke down midway. Kashmir Solidarity Day is to be observed by the country tomorrow (February 5).
The Senate on Monday passed ‘The Maternity and Paternity Leave Bill, 2018’ that was moved on private members’ day by Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Senator Quratulain Marri.
According to the details, while the bill was passed by the Upper House with a majority, the treasury benches opposed it. The bill will now go to the National Assembly for a vote.
The said bill increases paid maternity leave of working mothers both in public and private sectors, and for the first time in the country, also grants paid paternity leave to fathers.
The bill says that employees of every establishment should be provided six months paid maternity and three months paternity leave as and when applied by employees, separately from their leave account, commencing from the date as applied by the applicant in the application and supported by a medical certificate.
It adds that the employees shall also be provided with an additional three months optional unpaid maternity and one-month paternity leave, separately from their leave account, if required by the employee.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government opposed the bill saying that such long maternity leave was not allowed anywhere in the world. Economic Affairs Minister Hammad Azhar said mothers can get 90-day maternity leave under the already-existing law.
The Upper House on Friday stood totally divided on how much rights should be provided to women in Pakistan, but shared consensus on how they lagged behind as compared to men, as senators discussed the National Commission on Status of Women report, The News reported.
Among those who participated in the discussion over the 2017 annual report by Minister for Human Rights Dr Shireen Mazari on January 22 last year, were Mohsin Aziz, Mushtaq Ahmad, Walid Iqbal, Nuzhat Sadiq and Sherry Rehman.
The widely-discussed issue of a Faisal Vawda, showing a long shoe, also echoed in the House after the Question Hour, when PML-N Senator Kulsoom Parveen raised the matter, wondering should the lawmakers stop appearing in TV talk shows, the way a sitting member of this House was ‘insulted’.
She clarified that they had voted not for the boots but for the country’s key security institution, which was so dear to them. “Is the punishment of stopping the minister for a few days from appearing in talks shows is enough,” she asked.
Senators Mohsin Aziz and Mushtaq emphasised during the discussion on the commission report that the women rights should not be seen through the Western lenses and cultural invasion. They insisted that awareness about women rights could not be promoted and drives pushed for their rights while sitting in five-star hotels; instead such events be held in rural areas to read and asses the ground realities.
They said events in the name of culture in academic schools could not be allowed, which ran contrary to social and cultural values, enshrined in the Shariah. They supported women emancipation and lifting their status in the society, freeing them from the clutches of exploitation but not at the cost of values and honour. They also objected to certain slogans raised and inscribed on posters during drives for women rights last year.
Pictures of a man pretending to be a journalist from BBC has interviewed senators, including the Upper House’s Standing Committee on Interior Chairperson Rehman Malik, outside the Parliament House in what is being termed as a massive security breach.
The incident was brought to limelight by Tahir Imran, a journalist actually affiliated with BBC, as he tweeted images of the imposter and wrote, “Dear Senator Rehman Malik, this guy is an imposter who pretends to be a BBC journalist. He is not a BBC employee”.
In another picture, the man was seen covering Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl’s (JUI-F) ongoing Azadi March in the federal capital.
Sharing the images, Tahir also urged Senator Malik to lodge a complaint and inform BBC’s local office in Islamabad about the imposter.
Responding to the tweet, the senator said that he had already ordered an inquiry as to how did the man enter a restricted space. “Have also informed the BBC head in Islamabad,” he tweeted, adding that he found the fake reporter suspicious after the latter’s claim of being affiliated with BBC Italy.
“BBC Islamabad has confirmed that he is not a BBC employee and will be booked as an imposter under the law,” the senator added.
Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Major General Asif Ghafoor has rubbished Senator Mir Hasil Bizenjo’s remarks that the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief was “involved in manipulating the results” of the no-confidence motion against the Senate chairman.
The National Party president and losing candidate for Senate chairman slot had on Thursday accused the country’s premier spy agency of hijacking the Senate vote by indulging in horse-trading.
“Remarks by Senator Mir Hasil Bizenjo implicating head of national premier institution are unfounded,” the military spokesperson tweeted Thursday night.
“The tendency to bring [the] entire democratic process into disrepute for petty political gains doesn’t serve democracy,” he added.
The response came as Bizenjo’s reply to a journalist’s query, following his shocking defeat in the upper house, started doing rounds over the internet.
WATCH VIDEO:
“[ISI DG] General Faiz’s people are behind this,” he was heard as saying when asked to name those responsible for the defeat.
Earlier in the day, Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani survived a no-confidence resolution tabled against him by the joint opposition.
The opposition’s no-trust motion against Sanjrani failed to receive the 53 votes required for his removal even though at the start of the session, 64 senators had stood up in support of the motion.
Following the secret balloting, it was revealed that the motion received only 50 votes in its favour.
All eyes are on the upper house of the parliament on Thursday as senators from opposition parties, in a first, attempt to oust through a no-confidence motion its chairman, who enjoys the support of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) led ruling coalition.
According to the numbers’ game, the joint opposition is in a comfortable numerical position to turn the tables on the senators from treasury benches and remove Sadiq Sanjrani.
The opposition parties, in the 103-member house, enjoy the support of 67 senators while the governing alliance has the backing of 36 members.
The chairman can be removed by the majority of the total membership, and so, the support of at least 52 senators will be required to carry the no-trust motion.
OPPOSITION:
The opposition alliance in the upper house comprises of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) with 30 senators, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) with 20, Mir Hasil Khan’s National Party (NP) with five members, Jamiat Ulemae Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) with four senators, Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) of Mehmood Achakzai with four and Asfandyar Wali’s Awami National Party (ANP) with one member.
With the inclusion of two senators from Jamaate Islami Pakistan (JIP) and an independent senator, the tally stands at 67. However, PML-N’s Ishaq Dar has still not taken oath and the two belonging to JIP have reportedly decided to abstain from the proceedings.
GOVERNMENT:
The government alliance, on the other hand, is in a weaker position, with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) 14 senators. Its ally Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) has five, Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) has eight and Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) and Pakistan Muslim League-Functional (PML-F) have one senator each in the house.
Seven independent senators also sit on the government benches.
While the opposition alliance is apparently in a stronger position, the primary condition remains that all opposition members, in the secret ballot, cast their votes in the favour of the consensus nominee that is Bizenjo.
The Senate has passed a resolution to allow aspirants of Central Superior Services (CSS) to take their examinations in Urdu alongside English.
The resolution, passed on Monday with majority, was moved by
Jamaate Islami (JI) Senator Sirajul Haq.
In defence of his resolution, the JI chief said that Article 251 of the Constitution clearly directed to implement Urdu as the official language, however, it could not have been executed even after 45 years.
Taking the floor, State Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan said if the decision was implemented in haste, the drop out percentage in the exams would increase.
“Students should be given an option to attempt the exams in their
preferred language,” he added while assuring the upper house of implementation.
Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Senator Sassui Palijo, on the
other hand, opposed the resolution and said English was an international
language.
“Countries like China, France and Germany, who were so concerned about their languages, are also promoting English to prepare their people to compete at the international level,” she added.
Palijo further said that it would not be wise to “confine talents
to Urdu language”.