Treasury and opposition almost hit the Senate – Journal

ISLAMABAD: The Senate witnessed an unusual scene on Tuesday when a legislator in power of the PTI and a senator of the PML-N, whose remarks against the Prime Minister had offended the first, brushed the blows, inciting the sergeants of & Weapons to intervene.

Hell was unleashed when PML-N Parliamentary Leader in the Senate, Mushahidullah Khan, said that Prime Minister Imran Khan used to travel to Jeddah, London and Jati Umra to seek funds from the Sharif brothers for the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital (SKMT). He alleged that 5 to 10% of the amount received had been deposited in the SKMT accounts and that the rest had been devoured by the head of the PTI.

PTI lawmakers Faisal Javed and Mohsin Aziz rose to protest and Mr. Javed and Mushahidullah had a heated discussion. When Mr. Javed asked for an apology for the remarks made by the PML-N legislator and struck off by the President, Mushahidullah replied using a derogatory term and refused to apologize.

Unedifying Scene Observed After PML-N Senators' Allegations Against Imran Angered PTI Legislators

This infuriated Mr. Javed who attempted to head towards Mushahidullah Khan. Sergeants-at-Arms had to intervene and some members on both sides of the aisle, including Senate House Leader Shibli Faraz, Opposition Leader Raja Zafarul Haq, Raza Rabbani, Kabir Shahi and Javed Abbasi also tried to calm the angry ITP. legislator.

Even after the scene ended, members of the ruling party continued to interrupt Mushahidullah's speech on the wheat crisis and the Senate Speaker, Sadiq Sanjrani, asked them to sit down and sit down. # 39; wait their turn. Let him finish his speech and I will allow you to speak, Mr. Sanjrani told Mohsin Aziz PTI.

Mushahidullah warned that if order in the house was disrupted by the ruling party, no one on the treasury could speak. Even the Prime Minister would not be allowed to speak at home, he threatened.

The parliamentary leader of the PML-N asked the government to share with the house the Federal Investigation Agencys (FIA) report on the wheat and sugar crises. He said that the whole world knew who was behind this, but the report is hidden in Parliament. He said three people, including a woman, were named in the report prepared by the FIA ​​team led by Wajid Zia, the government's own representative.

He said thief slogans, thief had echoed in a stadium in the presence of a minister who allegedly made billions from the sugar crisis.

Senator PML-N said that the names of the beneficiaries of a 400% increase in the price of drugs were also known to all.

The whole discussion started after the chairman of the Standing Senate Committee on National Food Security, Syed Muzaffar Hussain Shah, presented a report on the wheat flour crisis which was adopted by the House.

Muzaffar Shah, while explaining the reasons for the crisis, said that Sindh had not bought wheat last year while the Punjab had given 6-7 million tonnes of wheat to the poultry sector . He said that 2 to 3 million tonnes of wheat had been smuggled into Afghanistan.

He said the committee had made 19 recommendations to avoid a similar crisis over the next few years, including the formation of a wheat board that would represent all the provinces. He said there was a requirement of 26 million tonnes in 2020 which would increase to 36 million tonnes in 2026. He said that if the yield and the area were not increased and that the price wheat support was not rationalized, a major wheat crisis could hit the country after a few years. . He also said that hoarders were exploiting the situation to their advantage.

Shibli Faraz said the report made it clear that it was a supply problem and that the negligence of a provincial government claiming the problem had a major role to play in the crisis.

Zafarul Haq suggested a meeting of the full committee to discuss the matter without discussion.

Pervez Rasheed said that soybean and cornmeal, not wheat, was used in poultry feed. He said thieves who allocated wheat for human consumption for poultry feed should be reported.

He said the report also talked about hoarders, adding that hoarding millions of tonnes of wheat required big cuts and that only a handful of affluent people with the capacity held the grain for seven to eight months to make windfall profits. Why these dacoits were not unmasked and why the FIA ​​report is kept secret, asked the senator. He said thieves involved in looting the country should be held accountable.

Shibli Faraz agreed with Muzaffar Shahs' remarks but said that all thieves who looted national wealth should be taken to task.

House PPP parliamentary leader Sherry Rehman said a minister was accused of being behind the crisis and regretted that the ruling party is changing the rules regarding responsibility for its own people. They deliberately talk about starting to be accountable decades ago so that their turn comes after a long time, she noted. She opposed the idea of ​​setting up a wheat board and noted that the support price was the real problem. She also requested that the FIA ​​report on the wheat and sugar crisis be made public.

Mohsin Aziz said that panic had been created, which led to higher prices. He said the situation had been brought under control thanks to the timely intervention of the government.

Posted in Dawn, March 4, 2020