Consideration of finance bill in Senate: Parliamentary panel rejects motion seeking amendments to rules

A parliamentary panel on Monday rejected a motion seeking to effect amendments in the rules related to consideration of the Finance Bill in the Senate. The Senate Committee on Rules of Procedures and Privileges, which met here under the chairpersonship of Senator Ayesha Raza Farooq, while discussing a "motion introduced by Senator Quratulain Marri seeking amendment in rules 130, 135, 143, 145, 162A, 167, 184, 196 and insertion of a new rule 180 in the rules of procedure and conduct of business in the Senate 2012" unanimously rejected it.
The committee members said that formulating new legislation on the subject will create a serious issue; therefore, the matters related to finance bill must be discussed as per prevailing rules and regulations in the Senate. Senator Marri said that Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) related matters are referred to Senate Standing Committee on Planning and Development while there are no rules on the subject. The committee chairperson said that this practice was introduced by Senator Saleem Mandviwalla two years ago and nobody had expressed any concern on the issue, so this must continue as per present system.
However the panel decided to further discuss the suggestions made by Senator Quratulain Marri in the next meeting of the committee. The committee also discussed a privilege motion against the vice chancellor (VC), provost, chief security officer and security supervisor of the Peshawar University who refused to meet Senator Bahramand Khan Tangi in connection with resolving the issue of a clash that took place in the university due to increase in fees.
Additional Secretary Federal Education and Professional Training Anwaar Hussain told the committee that it happened due to misunderstanding and that it had been settled now. Senator Behranmand Khan Tangi informed the committee that a clash took place in the Peshawar University due to increase in fee in which various students were injured and arrested.
He said, "In this regard, I have contacted vice chancellor and provost of the university but neither did they attend my call nor did they respond later," adding that the administration of the university has used derogatory language with MPA Nighat Aurakzai, which is a condemnable act.
Ayesha Raza Farooq said that Parliament is the supreme institution and parliamentarians are the representatives of the masses and it is the responsibility of parliamentarians to address the issues of people.
She said institutions of the country must cooperate with parliamentarians for addressing the public issues. Senators including Leader of the House Shibli Faraz, Dilawar Khan, Syed Muzaffar Hussain Shah, Khanzada Khan and Behramand Khan Tangi attended the meeting.