ISLAMABAD: The ruling party’s chief whip in the National Assembly who is also the Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, Sheikh Aftab Ahmed, told the National Assembly on Monday that he was so “helpless” against absenteeism on the treasury benches that he had thoughts of resigning.

His lament came after opposition leader Khursheed Ahmed Shah complained about the absence of most ministers and lawmakers of the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) on the opening day of a new session of the house and a reprimand of the absentees by Deputy Speaker Murtaza Javed Abbasi.

The opposition leader, of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), also protested against the government’s increasing reliance on presidential ordinances — six of them laid before the house on Monday — instead of bringing bills to parliament.

His complaint was supported by Abdul Rashid Godail of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), Jamaat-i-Islami parliamentary leader Sahibzada Tariqullah, PPP’s Aijaz Soomro and Awami Muslim League chief Sheikh Rashid Ahmed.

Sheikh Aftab talked of failure of his repeated efforts to ensure the presence of ministers and relevant officials of their ministries during the question hour, and said: “I myself don’t understand what to do. I have become helpless, (and) I think I also resign (from my position) go away.”

He did not elaborate whether he was thinking of resigning as the chief whip or the minister of state as well.

And then Sheikh Aftab suggested to the deputy speaker that after the conclusion of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s two-day visit to Pakistan on Tuesday he and Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq meet Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif together to take up the issue of absenteeism of ministers and officials from the house, and said: “This process cannot go on any longer.”

Some cabinet ministers could have been absent from the house because of engagements related to the Chinese president’s visit, but Sheikh Aftab did not offer any defence of his colleagues on this count, nor did the deputy speaker promise to take up the matter with the prime minister, who himself rarely comes to the two houses of parliament.

The deputy speaker had earlier called for the presence of cabinet ministers when questions relating to their ministries are to be answered during the question hour, with a warning: “We should not be forced to take stern decisions.”

But he remained unmoved by a belated provocation from Sheikh Rashid: “You had better taken a risk of your life to issue a ruling today.”

CYBERCRIME CONTROVERSY: It was the deputy speaker’s turn to appear helpless, without saying so, during a heated discussion between the opposition and ruling party members about an opposition demand that an all-parties group review the government’s draft of a cybercrime law as approved by the government-dominated standing committee on information technology before being brought to the house for adoption.

PPP member Nafisa Shah said the standing committee had approved the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Bill, 2015, in haste and demanded that an all-parties group be formed to review the draft in view of its widespread criticism by advocacy groups on grounds of violations of fundamental rights.

Her demand was supported by several other opposition members. But ruling party members, including standing committee chairman Mohammad Safdar, who argued that the committee had put in hard work in approving the draft and insisted to bring it to the house where, they said, the opposition could propose amendments.

The issue was still being debated, without a ruling from the chair, when the deputy speaker adjourned the house until 10.30am on Wednesday.

Earlier, the minister of state for parliamentary affairs, standing in for Law, Justice and Human Rights Minister Pervaiz Rashid, laid before the house six recently promulgated ordinances — the Safeguard Measures (Amendment) Ordinance, the Countervailing Duties Ordinance, the Anti-Dumping Duties Ordinance, the National Tariff Commission Ordinance, the General Election 2013 Inquiry Commission Ordinance, and the Publication of Laws of Pakistan (Regulation) Ordinance.

CHILD RIGHTS LAWS: He also introduced two government bills on behalf of the law minister, one of them — the Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill — seeking various amendments to the Pakistan Penal Code to implement the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and to provide for penalties for violations, and the other, and inter-related National Commission on the Rights of the Child Bill, which provides for the establishment of an independent commission to monitor, protect and promote child rights.

A third bill — the National University of Medical Sciences — that Sheikh Aftab introduced on behalf of Defence Minister Khawaja Mohammad Asif seeks to establish a university to consolidate quality medical education being imparted by Army Medical Corps.

Published in Dawn, April 21st, 2015

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