A visibly perturbed outgoing Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani on Friday indicated that he may let go his new Senate seat after party Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari accused him of not resisting the 'anti-democratic' moves by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. A day ago, the former President Asif Ali Zardari alleged that Rabbani did not resolve party's reservations regarding the 18th Amendment and tried to side with Nawaz Sharif during his tenure as Senate chairman.
Rabbani, who is going to retire on March 11, in his farewell speech, said that there is a clash of civilizations in the world but in Pakistan there is a clash between state institutions, which compelled him not to announce his ruling regarding a debate on trichotomy of power. "I'd reserved my ruling after a thorough debate on trichotomy of power...[and] the reason why I didn't announce my ruling is because there is a dire need of "intra-institutional dialogue" to bury the insinuations of "clash between different state institutions," he added.
He continued that he would certainly place the documents, which consist of 60-70 pages, before the Parliament "if he takes oath as a new senator," - a clear indication that he is highly perturbed over the statement of the PPP co-chairman.
The statement by former president came at a time when all political parties, particularly PML-N Quaid Nawaz Sharif, openly declared that they are ready to support Rabbani as new chairman of the Senate.
Rabbani also shared the details of his assets and liabilities which he had promised the very first day when he took oath in 2015 as chairman Senate that his assets would not exceed when he would retire after completing his stint, and he proved his worth that there is no increase in his assets.
"If I'm in this position today, there is a role of two women, one is my mother and the second is my political mother, the late Benazir Bhutto, due to whom I'm here...I tried not to compromise on principles, rule of law and supremacy of the Constitution and Parliament," he added.
The outgoing chairman reiterated that all state institutions must work by staying within their constitutional ambits, adding the military is under the executive but in reality it is a "stakeholder". Telling the reason why army, a state institution, has become a stakeholder and calls the shots, he said: "We need to retrospect and see if we had made a blunder."
In the same breath, he clarified, "The parliament created space for what we are facing today, and if you will create a space, someone will definitely step in to fill it," adding, "The Parliament was revived, democratic governments were packed, laws were passed, but we accepted them all." About allegations of horse-trading in recent Senate elections, he recalled that Senate had urged the parliamentary committee on electoral reform to put the name of a member on the ballot paper for the secret ballot of Senate polls to give an end to horse-trading, but all the parties rejected it.
He also rejected the proposal for direct Senate elections advocated by some political parties, saying it would not be a good omen for a federation as direct polls will pave way for a few major political parties to bring their own men to Senate.
"Direct election to Senate will be negation to the philosophy of 1973 Constitution's creator...if direct elections are held, it will be like National Assembly where one or two parties will be in majority," he warned.
Rabbani maintained that the powers of the executive should be withdrawn and all the decisions should be taken by the Parliament, adding all agreements whether defense or financial with foreign countries should be rectified by the Parliament.
"The Senate has also made recommendations that all agreements made with foreign countries should be placed before both the Houses of the Parliament, but the government didn't pay any heed to it...I now feel the need if parliamentary recommendations are not enough, a law should be passed," he maintained.
He recalled that during his stint as chairman Senate he handed down 73 rulings, and expressed hope that the rulings pertaining to a separate secretariat for Council of Common Interests (CCI), and National Finance Commission (NFC) and devolution need to be pursued by the next chairman Senate.
The senators belonging to all political parties including some ministers present in the House bid adieu to Rabbani by thumping desks and giving a standing ovation when he finished his farewell speech.
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