ISLAMABAD: Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani on Thursday disclosed that he had written to the president for summoning a joint sitting of parliament for a decision on Sindh’s objection over approval to release official results of the 2017 census by the Council of Common Interests (CCI).

The revelation came when the issue of alleged undercounting of Sindh population was raised in the house by former Senate chairman Mian Raza Rabbani. Speaking on a point of public importance, Mr Rabbani said Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah had on April 14 written a letter to Prime Minister Imran Khan, who happens to be ex-officio chairman of the CCI, on the issue.

Stressing that Sindh was not satisfied, he pointed out that under Article 154(7) of the constitution, parliament was the appropriate forum for a final decision in such a situation.

Article 154 (7) reads: “If the Federal Government or a Provincial Government is dissatisfied with a decision of the council, it may refer the matter to Majlis-e-Shoora (parliament) in a joint sitting whose decision in this behalf shall be final.”

Mr Rabbani pointed out that the Sindh CM had also written letters to Senate chairman and National Assembly speaker on April 29. He said that when the census matter was presented before the CCI on April 7, the Sindh chief minister had raised objections and then at the Balochistan chief minister’s request it was deferred and taken up again on April 12. He regretted that the tradition of consensus decision was broken by taking the decision by a majority vote.

The PPP senator said the census was not conducted properly and alleged that Sindh’s population had been undercounted. He asked the Senate chairman to use his influence to ensure that Sindh gets its constitutional right.

Chairman Sanjrani said he had received the letter a day before yesterday and he had already written a letter to the president for summoning the joint session, a copy of which had also been sent to the National Assembly speaker.

Rule through ordinances

The controversy over ‘rule through ordinances’ once again reverberated in the house, with PPP parliamentary leader in the Senate Sherry Rehman regretting that the Higher Education Commission (HEC) Ordinance was not being laid in the house nor was it becoming a bill.

“What is the purpose of this parliament if they want to run the country through ordinances? This is extremely worrying. Our rights and responsibilities are being compromised. The President House has become an ‘ordinance factory’,” she said.

Senator Rehman also slammed the government for coming up with the Pakistan Media Development Authority (PMDA) Ordinance 2021 and said the controversial ordinance called by many as mini-martial law would now be used as a tool for institutionalising censorship and curbing media freedom.

“This is a combination of Zia and Musharraf’s black laws. Is this the direction the government wants to take us towards?” she asked.

“We have no objections to regulating the media but trying to control the narrative and quashing all sane and critical voices is another issue which needs to be addressed. It’s a matter of shame and embarrassment that the world now sees Islamabad as the most dangerous place for journalism. Silencing the media means silencing us. This ordinance needs to be laid in the house so we can regulate it.

“If you disagree with the government, you are labelled a traitor. Constructive criticism needs to be tolerated. We already have penalties in Pakistan but the penalties that they want to bring through this ordinance are atrocious. We already have IT and regulation committees, let them do their job,” she said.

Ms Rehman said Pakistan ranked 139th on the World Press Freedom Index when this government came to power and three years later the country ranked 145th on the list. “The voices of the opposition and media are being stifled. Through this ordinance, the government is saying that you will not be able to get a licence if you don’t become a mouthpiece for us. Any kind of independent reporting will lead to your channel being shut down,” she added.

The PPP senator said: “Organisations like Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and International Commission of Jurists have taken notice of the journalists being attacked in Pakistan. In 2020, Pakistan ranked ninth on the Committee to Protect Journalist’s annual Global Impunity Index. The shrinking space for dissent is being noticed by everyone.

“In case they need a reminder, it was the ruling party which started the tradition of trolling on social media. People with their party flags are involved in using abusive language, ridiculing politicians and harassing women online. The government does not realise the repercussions this PMDA Ordinance will have and it is something they seriously need to review.”

Leader of the House in the Senate Dr Shahzad Waseem asserted that promulgation of ordinances was something permissible under the Constitution. He said the previous PPP and PML-N governments promulgated 26 ordinances per month on average.

He said it had become a fashion to bash the national security institutions without any evidence. “Levelling baseless charges against the state institutions is part of the fifth generation war and many friends are trapped without knowing about it. To weaken the security institutions and other entities like the judiciary is part of the fifth generation war.”

Mr Waseem said no one was above the law and that injustice would be done to none with regards to the new media law. “The impression is being given that Islamabad has become dangerous for journalists. The ordinances are presented in the house under the Constitution, and if they are not presented then they will be repealed,” he said.

Earlier, during the question hour, the Minister for Aviation Ghulam Sarwar Khan repeated his controversial remarks that 262 pilots of Pakistan International Airlines possessed dubious licenses. He said 50 of them had already been terminated and 32 suspended, while cases of the rest were under process. He regretted that pilots with fake licences had been flying PIA planes.

The Senate unanimously passed the Public Private Partnership (Amendment) Bill, 2021, which has already been passed by the National Assembly, without sending it to the Senate standing committee concerned, after the opposition reluctantly agreed to deviate from the practice.

Chairman Sanjrani told the house that the bill would lapse if not passed today, and asked the opposition to get it passed, with a promise that any subsequent amendments to reform it would be entertained. The house was prorogued sine die.

Published in Dawn, June 4th, 2021