Mr. Jamali woke up at last he needs a cup of tea to keep him fresh as we noticed these people wake up only when they are out of power, we expect similar awakening from our Baloch leady Zubaida Jalal, but hope full only when she is out of her ministerial job.
Not bad but could be better.
Have your say about these awakenings
Baloch Unity
Jamali blasts govt on privatisation, NFC, imports
From UMAR CHEEMA
ISLAMABAD - In a rare display of independence, former PM Mir Zafarullah Jamali Saturday disregarded party line as he criticised the government over NFC Award delay, privatisation of profit-earning departments, and import of food items from India in National Assembly Saturday.
Jamali, who took intermittent sips of water during his speech, said the budget his government had presented last year with Shaukat as then Finance Minister, has not been fully implemented. Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, who was in the house during Jamali’s outburst, listened with his head down - busy taking notes or sometimes murmuring with the lawmakers sitting beside him.
After having made his forthright comments, Jamali said it was his right to criticise the government but he also extends his cooperation to Shaukat Aziz if he needs any advice from him.
About his resignation from the PM office, he said he did it in the best interest of parliament and democracy. "There would have been neither the present Parliament nor the Prime Minister had I refused to quit as PM," he said.
Jamali also talked about Balochistan crisis as well as political rights and warned the champions of democracy sitting in the government against political victimisation of the opponents.
As soon Jamali ended his speech, State Minister Ishaq Khakwani questioned consumption of Rs 1.5 billion funds by Jamali in his Naseerabad constituency.
In response to Khakwani’s objections, Jamali asked him to change the habit of opposition for the sake of opposition.
When Khakwani said that the former PM should be punished for this injustice, Jamali said that he is ready to explain if government holds an inquiry into the matter.
However, Health Minister Naseer Khan and MNA Riaz Pirzada rescued Jamali when they asked Khakwani not to be arrogant, saying he (Jamali) is a senior parliamentarian and PML leader hence he must be given due respect.
The PPP-P lawmaker Aitzaz Ahsan during his composed and articulate speech on budget questioned the huge allocation for defence and stressed the need for balancing the budgetary grants for defence and social welfare.
He rejected the justification that the past governments have made defence allocations in same fashion, adding that the same army threw out all those democratic rulers who made such allocations.
He said that his party has great respect for army, but its interest should not be in clash with the interest of the country. He said only those countries survived, which have social welfare system while those with strong defence but poor social indicators have vanished from the
world scene.
Taking part in the budget debate Jamali, who resigned soon after his government present the budget, expressed his displeasure over the small allocation for agriculture sector that has played crucial role in GDP growth during this fiscal year. About the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award, he called for early consensus over it and asked the government to give due share in the award to Balochistan and NWFP for poverty alleviation and development projects.
He criticised the government policy of privatising the profit-oriented institutions and said the relevant ministers are being pushed to do this for reasons not known to them.
"I questioned a minister the reason for privatisation of an institution under his jurisdiction," Jamali told the house while talking about privatisation of the PTCL that has prompted countrywide protests by the company’s workers.
"I am being compelled to do so," was his reply, Jamali added.
Jamli also criticised the government’s decision to import food items including onion, meat, and wheat from India. Though, he said, efforts for easing Indo-Pak relations, for which he while in PM office had been part of this process, are commendable, he opposed the government decision to import food items from India.
Instead of giving incentives to growers here, the government is planning to import foodstuff from India, he maintained.
Jamali urged the Opposition Leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman to play his due political role and remove differences within Mutahidda Majlis-e-Amal.
About his ouster from the PM office, he said that he was not forced to quit but he had himself resigned. He termed President Musharraf as his benefactor, who approved his ascendancy to the PM office, and thanked the PML leadership and allied components, which had elected him as Leader of the House.
"One should not complain against the benefactors," he said while lauding Musharraf’s efforts for steering the country out of crisis.
Jamali talked about the political victimisation that has been a practice of every government against its opponents and urged the champions of democracy in the government to stop punishing the opposition members.
Rai Mansab, State Minister Amin Aslam, Maulana Abdul Malik, Maulana Ghafoor Haideri, Abid Omang, Maulana Amanullah, Shagufta Jumani, Anwar Bhutto, Akbar Chitrali, Hizbullah Bhuggio, and others also spoke on the occasion.
National Assembly Speaker adjourned the session in the evening after allowing scores of parliamentarians to speak on the proposed budget for 2005-06. The House will resume its proceeding on Monday afternoon.
http://www.nation.com.pk/daily/june-2005/12/index4.php |
