No legislation in the works to extend Fata, Pata tax exemptions

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Finance Muhammad Aurangzeb told the House on Thursday that no new legislation was being proposed to extend the tax and duty exemptions for erstwhile Fata and Pata regions. He said these exemptions had been continuing for six years and were now coming to an end on 30th June this year.

Responding to another question, Minister for Petroleum Musadik Malik said there was a ban on new gas connections to ensure the provision of gas to existing consumers. He pointed out that gas reserves were depleting rapidly. The piped gas is annually depleting by 14 to 15 percent. He emphasized blending the domestic gas and imported LNG to ensure uninterrupted gas supply to the people.

Speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq gave a deadline of Friday afternoon (today) to the government and opposition to complete the formation of standing committees.

In response to a point of order from Agha Rafiullah of PPP, PMLN chief whip Dr. Tariq Fazal Chaudhry said they had finalised the composition of standing committees. However, he said the composition had to be changed due to the suspension of membership of 22 members on the reserved seats. He said he was also in contact with the PPP chief whip Ejaz Jhakrani to complete the formation of committees. He said the Speaker had given the deadline of 4pm Friday (today) to complete the formation of standing committees.

Chief whip of Sunni Ittehad Council Amir Dogar also said that the whole work regarding the new composition and share of parties in committees would be completed by the given deadline. Deputy Speaker Ghulam Mustafa Shah, who presided over the proceedings, said the MNAs should be kept informed of such progress so that they would not have to raise the issues.

Meanwhile, Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq had to suspend the proceedings for 15 minutes due to the absence of ministers to answer the questions of parliamentarians during the Question-Hour. As a result, the Question-Hour also had to be deferred as neither the ministers of interior, defence, inter-provincial coordination and overseas Pakistanis were present in the House nor any other minister was prepared to answer on behalf of the cabinet member concerned.

The speaker said it was the collective responsibility of the cabinet members to respond to questions of MNAs in the House. He noted that neither the minister for defence, interior, overseas Pakistanis and inter-provincial coordination were present in the House nor any other minister was prepared to respond to the questions.

Addressing the chief whip on treasury benches, Dr. Fazal Chaudhry, the speaker asked if he should adjourn the House proceedings if this situation continued. He said only at 9:50 am, he received a written request through the Section Officer of the Ministry of Interior that questions related to the ministry be deferred. He also noted that the joint secretary of interior was present in the officials’ gallery.

Meanwhile, the National Assembly proceedings Thursday witnessed an ugly scene when PMLQ lawmaker Tariq Bashir Cheema rushed towards PTI-backed female MNA Zartaj Gul and hurled some unparliamentary words at her.

The situation created a pandemonium due to the objectionable act of Tariq Cheema who, after concluding his speech, suddenly rushed towards Zartaj Gul and spoke to her menacingly.

The highly objectionable remarks for Zartaj Gul enraged the PTI lawmakers as they moved to the treasury benches to grab him but Cheema was rescued by MNAs from the ruling alliance and security and was given a safe passage out of the assembly hall. Cheema lost his temper after Gul, during his speech, kept referring to the Islamia University of Bahawalpur scandal.

The scandal regarding drugs and sexual harassment of female students, allegedly involving Cheema’s son, came into the limelight in July last year. Cheema had denied the media reports, saying that he himself would “evict his son from home” if proven guilty.

The uncontrollable situation forced Shehla Raza, who was presiding over the proceedings, premature adjournment of the House till Friday morning (today). The opposition members reached the Speaker’s chamber to register their protest and asked him to call Tariq Cheema in his chamber. It was decided that the Speaker would announce the suspension of Tariq Cheema’s membership on Friday (today). The session is scheduled to be prorogued today (Friday).

Responding to the incident, PTI MNA Sher Afzal Marwat said that they were considering lodging an FIR against Cheema. Referring to the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), the PTI lawmaker said that it was an offence and his party leaders were talking with Speaker Ayaz Sadiq about the incident.

The sources said that Zartaj Gul and Shandana Gulzar demanded the Speaker suspend Cheema’s membership till the budget session. The situation ended on a positive note after the opposition and government members held a meeting with the Speaker, who asked Cheema to apologise to Zartaj Gul. The PMLQ leader tendered an apology and the issue was settled. The positive thing that emerged during the episode was that several government members also backed the PTI leader and asked Cheema to tender an apology.

Later, Zartaj Gul, while talking to the media, thanked members of all the parties who supported her saying that Cheema should not have misbehaved with her. PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Khan said whoever uses such language in the House should be taken to task as per law and rules. However, he said they wanted to maintain a pleasant working environment inside the House.

Earlier, members from both sides of the aisle criticised the government over the massive arrest of farmer leaders. PPP’s Shazia Marri regretted that raids and arrests have intensified a day after the PPP chairman spoke in the House against the economic murder of farmers and urged the government to accept their genuine demands.

Amir Dogar of the PTI said it was for the first time in the country’s history that the government was refusing to purchase wheat from farmers, which was highly condemnable. He referred to a convention organised by the grand opposition in Faisalabad in support of farmers and said all kinds of protests would be staged against the economic strangulation of farmers.

Tariq Bashir Cheema said the farmers have never been subjected to injustice like this. He said the government was not ready to purchase wheat from farmers and was trying to justify it by saying that it wanted to bring down the price of flour. He warned the government was setting the stage for another wheat crisis next year, noting that the wheat sowing area would significantly decrease.

Speaker Ayaz Sadiq, while taking a serious notice of the recording of video footage from the press gallery, directed cancellation of the press gallery cards of media representatives involved in the activity. The Speaker, while chairing a meeting on the issue, directed the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) to issue warnings to television channels that aired video footage and provide lists of those channels to him.

The Speaker noted that making video footage with mobile phones from the press gallery amounts to a breach of privilege of the House. He regretted that despite time and again directives from the National Assembly proceedings and secretariat, the exercise of making video footage could not be stopped.