Three controversial ordinances laid before Senate

Amid walkouts by combined opposition over promulgation of ordinances at a time when the term of current assembly is near completion, the government Thursday laid in the Senate three controversial presidential ordinances particularly 'The Income (Amendment) Ordinance, 2018.' As the government laid the controversial 'The Income (Amendment) Ordinance, 2018' before the House, the opposition vowed to oppose it tooth and nail, saying it will not allow the government to legalize the wrongdoings of influential persons who stashed the national wealth in foreign banks.
Senator Sherry Rehman, the Opposition Leader in the Senate, contended that two months before dissolution of the assemblies, the government cannot introduce money bill in the House, adding why the government is bringing an ordinance, as money bill comes with the budget. She said that under the law, no government can bring an ordinance two weeks before dissolution of the assemblies. "The law doesn't permit this...it never happened before. Fiscal ordinance can only be moved in case of financial emergency in the country," she added.
"Tell us if there is financial emergency? Where is finance bill...where is the budget? You are bent upon announcing the budget and bringing amnesty schemes which is negation of the parliamentary norms," Sherry said.
Minister for Climate Change Mushahid Ullah Khan moved the ordinances - The Foreign Assets (Declaration and Repatriation) Ordinance, 2018, The Voluntary Declaration of Domestic Assets Ordinance, 2018 and The Income Tax (Amendment) Ordinance, 2018 - before the House.
The opposition lawmakers led by Sherry Rehman kept protesting over laying the ordinances in the House despite a ruling of the chair which he had reserved on Monday last on a point raised by former Chairman Senate Rabbani regarding the ordinance.
Another PPP Senator Mustafa Khokhar said that before the announcement of the chairman's ruling on the controversial ordinance, the government can not lay the ordinances in the Senate.
Without paying any heed to the objection made by the senators, the chairman allowed the government to present the bill before the House. "We have to lay the bill in the Senate as it has been sent by the National Assembly Speaker...the ruling of the chair can be announced later, so let the bill be laid," said Chairman Sanjrani.
Former Chairman Senate Raza Rabbani, who severely criticized the government on the first day of the current session, remained conspicuously absent on Thursday. He had termed issuance of the ordinances as 'breach of the Parliament and unconstitutional,' saying the President can not do this as he had already summoned both National Assembly and Senate well before issuance of the ordinance.
Senator Azam Swati, Parliamentary Leader of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) said that bringing an ordinance when the term of the government will be completed in less than two month is tantamount to keeping the country 'mortgaged.' "What the government is doing to save the skin of the plunderers and cronies through such tactics is deplorable...stop keeping the country mortgaged any more, as we want no amnesty for those who have stolen the national wealth," he maintained.
The joint opposition then staged a walkout in protest that led to lack of the quorum, forcing the chair to adjourn the House till Friday.
Earlier, the opposition senators staged a walkout against Chairman Senate Sadiq Sanjrani for declaring an adjournment motion inadmissible and then forced him to take back his remarks about them.
PPP's Sassui Palijo presented an adjournment motion for discussion in the House on the controversial letter of the Cabinet Division regarding rollback of the 18th Constitutional Amendment and talked about its admissibility. She said that the bid to roll back the amendment is in negation of the Constitution, as already independent regulatory bodies had been put under ministers.
The opposition members refused to come back to the House on the request of Senator Ayesha Raza Farooq and Senator Jehanzeb Jamaldini, forcing Senator Mushahid Ullah Khan to spring into action who managed to bring them back.
After returning to the House, PPP Senator Maula Bakhsh Chandio refused to let the chair resume the business and insisted on first expressing views on his remarks about the opposition. He contended it was an insult to the opposition rather the House. "You will have to take back these words. We gave you love. Those, who came out in lobbies to convince us to end the House boycott, also made fun of us," Chandio asserted.