ISLAMABAD: Dubbing the recently-formed Commission of Inquiry to probe the utilisation of foreign debts by the two previous governments over the past 10 years as “ridiculously unconstitutional and undemocratic”, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Monday categorically declared on the floor of the National Assembly that they would not subject themselves before this commission.

“Budgetary decisions, including debt, are the sole domain of the National Assembly. We will not subject ourselves before any institution, let alone some debt commission. This is absolutely undemocratic and unconstitutional,” said Mr Bhutto-Zardari while taking part in the debate on the federal budget amidst desk-thumping by the opposition members, including his father Asif Ali Zardari.

“After undermining our political, human and democratic rights, they (government) now want to undermine the sovereignty of the parliament,” he said, questioning as to how could the collective wisdom of this House be questioned by National Accountability Bureau, Inter-Services Intelligence or Military Intelligence?

“These all institutions are answerable to this House. This House is not answerable to any institution,” he went on saying while referring to the inclusion of the officials of the intelligence agencies in the 11-member inquiry commission.

Quoting excerpts from Rice’s book in NA, Murad Saeed alleges Benazir approached US seeking an end to her cases

Mr Bhutto-Zardari also questioned the need for constituting a National Development Council (NDC) and inclusion of the army chief in it, though he did not name him. He said the armed forces of the country should be kept away from politics and economy.

He questioned the “legal basis” of the NDC in the presence of the constitutional forum of National Economic Council to discuss economic issues.

‘Selected PM’

The controversy over the use of the term “selected” for Prime Minister Imran Khan continued in the house as the opposition members not only criticised Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri for barring them from using this word, but also continued to call Mr Khan the “selected PM” and used some alternative words like “handpicked” and “chosen” for him during their speeches.

The issue was first raised by Dr Nafeesa Shah of the PPP who asked the deputy speaker to clarify if he had issued a ruling on the matter as reported by some newspapers. She was of the view that if he had issued a ruling then it must be binding upon all. Secondly, she said, if the deputy speaker barred the use of the term “selected” then he would also have to bar the use of “thieves and robbers” by the treasury members for the opposition leaders.

In response, the deputy speaker said he had requested the members to “let this beautiful democracy remain as it is because they all have been elected due to democracy”. He said he had requested the members not to use such words which brought disgrace to this house.

Mr Suri said this was a democratic house and all the members should respect the house by not uttering unparliamentary words.

Later, Mr Bhutto-Zardari, who had coined this term in his first speech in the house in the presence of Prime Minister Imran Khan in August last year, regretted that the deputy speaker in his absence had expunged the word “selected” and banned it, despite the fact that Mr Khan had thumped the desk when he was called the “selected PM” the first time in this very parliament.

“If Imran Khan is not a selected prime minister then why committee for election rigging was formed?” he asked.

“This censored Pakistan is unacceptable. An independent Pakistan is the solution not a censored Pakistan,” he said.

In her hard-hitting speech, PML-N’s Marriyum Aurangzeb used the term “handpicked” for the government when she was asked by the deputy speaker not to use the term “selected”. Former deputy speaker and PML-N leader Murtaza Javed Abbasi in his speech again called Mr Khan a “selected” PM.

A number of speakers, including the PPP chairman, criticised Speaker Asad Qaiser for not issuing production orders of the two arrested MNAs from Waziristan, Mohsin Dawar and Ali Wazir.

Mr Bhutto-Zardari urged the speaker to issue production orders of the two MNAs so that all opposition members were able to vote on the budget.

“Mr Speaker, I hope that by tomorrow... when the opposition needs to have its full numbers, you will issue the production orders of the MNAs of Waziristan. Otherwise, accusations will be made that this is nothing short of rigging the budget,” he said.

Speaker Asad Qaiser clarified that he had received the formal application for the issuance of the production order on June 22 and he would make the decision after getting a legal opinion from the law ministry.

Mr Bhutto-Zardari, however, said the speaker did not need any advice and he had the powers to issue the production orders.

The daylong proceedings were dominated by the fiery speeches of the opposition members.

Communications Minister Murad Saeed in his usual style responded to the PPP chairman’s speech. The focus of his speech, however, was the alleged corruption committed by the two opposition parties in the past.

The communications minister asked the opposition members to get themselves cleared from courts if they are innocent.

Giving references from the book written by former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, he alleged that slain PPP leader Benazir Bhutto had approached the US for seeking an end to her cases and for lifting a constitutional bar on her becoming prime minister for a third time.

According to APP, Mr Saeed recalled that former prime minister Nawaz Sharif claimed that he did not take any salary, but actually his $327,000 medical expenses and travel expenses were paid from the national exchequer in the year 2016.

An amount of Rs1,000 million of public money was spent by Nawaz Sharif on the security and fencing of his Jati Umra residence, while 2,700 policemen were deployed for the security of his residence and Rs2,000m was spent on that account.

The Punjab government issued notifications declaring four houses in Model Town, Jati Umra and Defence Housing Authority as camp offices of Shahbaz Sharif, he added.

Meanwhile, some members of the PPP and PML-N met Maulana Asad Mehmood of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and requested him to delay the multiparty conference convened on Wednesday as they would be busy in voting on cut motions during the passage of the budget.

Maulana Asad, who is the son of JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, said he would respond to the request after consulting his father on Tuesday.

Published in Dawn, June 25th, 2019