Panel for long-term economic planning: PMLN, PPP thwart PTI senator’s bill in Senate

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Monday thwarted a bid in the Senate for creation of an independent body to ensure long-term economic planning. 

During the private members day, several bills were introduced and many of them were referred to the House standing committees for deliberations and report.

However, the PTI’s Dr Sania Nishtar moved a motion seeking leave of the House to introduce the Pakistan Future Council Bill, 2023, which was defeated by 25 votes to 16. The bill sought to provide for an independent Pakistan future council as a federal advisory council.

The proposed body aims at ensuring a long-term economic policy planning with the main focus on economic growth and development and to ensure that the country got on track.

Explaining various aspects of the proposed legislation, Dr Sania pointed out there was no independent institution for economic decision-making and thus the conflict of interest in the government-controlled institutions was not taken into account.

PMLN’s Saadia Abbasi oppose the bill and insisted there was no need for it, as the Planning Committee was already doing the job. She was followed by the PPP’s Senator Sherry Rehman, who agreed to her and contended that Pakistan needed a long-term economic planning but this was the job of governments, recalling that her party had been advocating for political and economic agreement.

The legislator opposed the move for a future council and said the bill sought to take away power from the government and impose a supra body on it. Abdul Ghafoor Haideri of JUIF also spoke against the bill and noted that the parliament was incomplete and there was no emergency to go for such a move.

“The concept is good but there is no need for the bill,” emphasized another PMLN lawmaker Musaddik Malik. But the debate began in the House when former law minister and MQM’s Farogh Naseem proposed an ‘amendment’ to the proposed law to separate politics from economy.

PML-N’s Irfan Siddiqui emphatically said politics and economy could not be segregated and insisted that only elected representatives could ensure the country was on track. He explained his point that when a political party formed government, it came with an agenda and objectives ninety percent of which had something to do with the national economy.

Saadia Abbasi again rose to contend that only a parliamentary system could provide a high-powered and highly credible decision-making forum and also opposed separation of politics from economy and the move for a supra body binding the elected government.

Mushahid Hussain Sayed strongly objected to a provision of the proposed bill that reads, “The council shall act as the apex network of think tanks in the country to tap collective wisdom”.

He believed this would particularly open the door to conformity, uniformity and control and continued there should be no controlled mechanism for actual thinking, as the biggest watchdog was either the opposition or the parliament, not a new organization that would be an unnecessary overlap.

Caretaker Minister for Interior Sarfraz Bugti, however, did not oppose the motion, while Senator Sania insisted it was not a supra body over any other institution rather the council had only advisory and consultative role. She was of the view that all developed countries had such councils.

The House rejected her resolution by 22 to 11 votes, which sought to urge the government to immediately create a cross-sectoral task force in the country to identify gaps in financing towards food system and develop a clear understanding of the country’s financing needs in line with Pakistan’s global commitments ahead of COP-28.

PTI’s Prof Dr. Mehr Taj Roghani was allowed the leave to introduce a bill further to amend the Injured Persons (Medical Aid) Act, 2004 [The Injured Persons (Medical Aid) (Amendment) Bill, 2023] referred to the House committee concerned.

She explained to the House that the bill provided for provision of medical aid to injured persons prior to the medico-legal order to save their lives.

“How can I speak and oppose the bill, as I have been a student of Prof Sahiba,” commented Health Minister Nadeem Jan, who, however said that a similar bill was already before the Law Division. Before his comment, the PTI senator expressed the hope that the minister would not speak before her, for he had been her student. The House will now meet again Tuesday morning.