Pakistan - Senate proceedings: Democracy suits the country, says Rabbani

Rejecting the rhetoric of a former spymaster over democracy and military role, Senate Chairman Mian Raza Rabbani said on Friday that the military “is a truly professional force and understands that democracy is in favour of this state”.

“Those who are talking about packing up of democratic setup will not be tolerated,” he remarked after Senator Usman Kakar informed the house that former DG Inter-Services Intelligence Lt-Gen Hameed Gul in an interview called for military rule in the country.

“Army should take the country’s command for a short period and act professionally, and if it does not take over, there would be a civil war in Pakistan,” Gul said. “Freedom of expression is not a licence. Such a wish is against the spirit of true democracy,” Rabbani said.

During the course of proceedings, Senator Usman Kakar drew attention towards Hameed Gul’s statement in which he asked for the “Constitution to be suspended”. Kakar called for filing of a case against the former DG ISI under Article 6 as Gul was asking for abrogating the Constitution.

In response to his point of order, senators Farahatullah Babar and Saeed Ghani also urged fellow lawmakers and the media not to give importance to such an irresponsible statement which is nothing “but a way of earning cheap fame”.

They urged the government to take strong notice of this statement and go for a legal action against Gul, if there is any ground.

Budget debate

During the proceedings, senators hardly showed any interest in the budget debate. A few of them, however, took part in the discussion and gave some proposals.

Senator Mohsin Khan Leghari said that indirect taxes on the masses are illegal, urging the government to expand the tax net. “Everyone should be bound to pay tax, which is the only way for nation’s prosperity.”

“New budget is a joy for me,” said Senator Shahi Syed of Awami National Party, adding, “But the thing which let me down is the ministers’ poor response to debate it.”

Senator Attaur Rehman of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam endorsed Shahi Syed’s statement and urged the lawmakers to come up with better proposals to make this year’s budget more realistic. Senator Shibli Fraz of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf also lamented the lack of interest showed by his fellow colleagues to debate the budget.

“Lessening customs duty on various imported products will hurt the local industry,” he said and urged the government to review this proposal. Later, the debate on budget was adjourned till Monday.