• Discontinue the proceedings due to non-compliance with the order of production of Ejaz Chaudhry
• The Minister of Justice rules out a general amnesty for PTI prisoners and asks them to move the court
• Dar says efforts are underway to resume UK flights and investigation ordered into controversial PIA announcement
ISLAMABAD: After jailed PTI senator Ejaz Chaudhry failed to attend the session, the issuance of his production order by the Senate president, PTI legislators staged a noisy protest in the upper house over what described as “contempt of parliament”.
At the beginning of the debate, Senate Opposition Leader Syed Shibli Faraz thanked the President for issuing the production order. However, he regretted that the senator was still not in the house, because the Punjab government did not want to bring “the high-profile prisoner” to the house.
Shibli Faraz said it was a disgrace to parliament that the order had not been followed and called on members on both sides of the aisle to protest the move. Opposition lawmakers were also seen carrying posters with photographs of jailed senator and PTI founder Imran Khan during the proceedings.
‘Bat Trial’
The Supreme Court’s January 13 ruling that deprived the PTI of its iconic bat symbol less than a month before the 2024 elections also resonated in the upper house, with Senator Faraz calling the ruling an “attempt to deprive of their rights to millions of people.”
Without naming the Awami National Party, the senator said some parties were allowed to contest elections without conducting intra-party polls after a fine of a few thousand rupees.
The senator said a “puppet” government was installed after the “sham elections,” adding that the fascism that began even before the elections continued. He alleged that the number of political prisoners today is the highest in history.
He alleged that hundreds of false and fabricated cases had been registered against the PTI leadership. The PTI senator also criticized the government’s failure on the economic front, saying that they could not even sell Pakistan International Airline as only a single bidder was interested in buying it.
Responding to criticism of the January 14 ruling, PML-N leader and Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal held the PTI responsible, stating that despite repeated reminders from the Election Commission of Pakistan, the party did not hold intra-party elections for three years. He also blamed the party for the delay of the general elections, saying that a decision on the census was taken in 2017 but the PTI government did not carry out the exercise during its four years in power. “We had to go to the digital census and as a result the electoral process was affected,” he noted.
Responding to criticism over the submission of a single-party bid for the PIA, he said the PTI caused a loss of billions of rupees to the national flag carrier. He said: “They defamed PIA pilots in the world, which led to the ban of PIA flights to Europe and the United States.” He threatened that investigations would be carried out and that the PTI leadership would have to face the law over the charge of ruining the PIA and civil aviation.
Regarding criticism over economic conditions, he said that China has invested 3 billion dollars and that work has begun on the largest nuclear power plant with a capacity of 1,200 MW. Loud opposition sloganeering protests continued during the Treasury bench speeches.
“There is no general relief”
Meanwhile, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said the PTI’s demand to release all prisoners could not be met. He said it was not possible to provide blanket relief to PTI prisoners through an executive order as many of them were facing cases of terrorism and corruption.
The law minister said the government facilitated a meeting of PTI founder Imran Khan with his party’s negotiation team over the weekend. “Now, as a result of this meeting, a demand has emerged that all those imprisoned PTI workers and leaders facing terrorism, corruption and other cases be released through an executive order,” he revealed. He advised the PTI to approach court to seek redress.
Speaking about the production order by the PTI leader, he said it was the duty of the authorities to implement the order and added that the issue of production order could be taken up in the third meeting between the government and the PTI negotiation committee.
PIA flights
Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar has said the government is making all-out efforts to restore PIA flights to the UK.
Responding to a call-out notice filed by PPP Parliamentary Leader Senator Sherry Rehman, he said 22 PIA aircraft were currently operational. He said the privatization process of the national flag carrier would resume soon.
Earlier, Senator Rehman expressed concern over the grounding of the PIA aircraft and the ambiguity surrounding its privatization. “The privatization process of PIA remains completely confusing,” Senator Rehman said, urging the government to clarify the matter.
Senator Rehman also expressed concern over the limited reach of PIA services, particularly in remote areas of the country. He urged the Aviation Minister to provide details on the airline’s routes and fleet management. “Of PIA’s fleet of 34 aircraft, only 19 are operational, while the rest are grounded,” he said.
Also discussed in the Senate was an unconventional announcement by the PIA announcing its return to Paris. Dar revealed that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had ordered an inquiry into PIA’s advertising.
Ishaq Dar wondered who conceived this ad. “It could have shown the plane flying over it (the Eiffel Tower) or its tail towards the tower,” he said, adding that European analysts and security experts had also criticized the ad.
Published in Amanecer, January 15, 2025.
