ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Tuesday slammed the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, Yusuf Raza Gilani, alleging that he has been compromised and sold and that he will continue as the Leader of the Opposition and that his Called the resignation a drama.
Interestingly, both Qureshi and Geelani are from Multan and tug of war between the two is not new. However, the manner in which the minister criticized Geelani in the upper house was a rare verbal bout and some of his comments had to be removed from the chair, who asked him not to get personal.
Apparently, his displeasure was in response to Geelani's statement in the Senate a day earlier that he was silent on a bill on South Punjab, which was introduced by PMLN's Rana Mahmudul Hasan, a federal minister from Multan also spoke in the House. Would not have done. The bill was referred to the relevant House panel and they still continued to discuss the matter.
Qureshi got up to speak on the recently passed SBP Amendment Bill, as controversy about this 'controversial law' resonated in the House where a united opposition won a majority, but when the bill was voted on last Friday, its eight Members including Geelani could not ensure their presence during the voting on the bill.
The minister made it clear that he would like to place the government's vision before this house and making the SBP autonomous is in line with its economic responsibility. The notion that the institution has been enslaved is completely wrong.
Qureshi said the quarterly reports of the SBP would continue to be placed in Parliament, which is a sovereign constitutional body, for examination. Subsequently, he slammed the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, saying he had made an irresponsible statement about the Senate president on Monday, which was an exaggeration. The minister said the Leader of the Opposition alleged that the chair facilitated the government by properly exercising its vote instead of being fair in view of the tie between the Treasury and the opposition members on the motion, seeking permission to introduce the bill. He explained that Geelani had not read 'Rule' 240, which gave the chair this right and it was her prerogative.
Qureshi then said that the Leader of the Opposition gave an explanation in the House regarding his absence that day, while the whole country knew what the real situation was and many sections of the Opposition were also not satisfied with his explanation that in the dark of night, All of a sudden the SBP bill was made a part of the agenda and they were not aware of it.
He continued, at the call of the finance minister, the IMF board had delayed its meeting for the passage of the SBP bill, which was passed by the National Assembly and then moved to the Senate. "And, he says, I didn't know about it, while he had already invited Senator Dilawar Khan, the leader of the Independent Group, to support the bill and when he got there, he did not meet in his office and the Senator Dilawar himself said this. Home a day back,” he said.
The minister then challenged Geelani to see him in the eye and if he was ashamed, he would follow the 'purda'; This triggered a ruckus in the House and first some opposition members and then others on behalf of the Treasury started speaking at the top of their voices.
Is this House not aware of how he (Gilani) became a senator by buying votes and tapes are available in the media, how his son was trying to buy support for his father? Geelani is also appearing before the Election Commission in this regard. The minister continued to attack Geelani, alleging that he had left the PMLN, assuming that the Leader of the Opposition (Azam Nazir Tarar) from the PMLN would have a majority and then the same night, he himself became the Leader of the Opposition and the same game. Which he played last Friday. On the SBP bill, he said, “There are explanations to explain, but I will not speak further today, because there is a long game. But I predict that he will continue to be the leader of the opposition as his resignation is just a drama and a lie,” he said. said.
He wondered why he was made the Leader of the Opposition when there were veteran senators like Raza Rabbani and Sherry Rehman. Following their outrage, the Chairman adjourned the House for meeting again on Friday morning.
Earlier, PPP Senator Taj Haider urged that the wounds were still fresh and could not contain salt, and pointed out that after the passage of the SBP Bill, two trends were carried forward: the government repeatedly stated that this bill was forced to pass and bring a mini budget. And then, he continued, a completely different narrative was being propagated and both these events were being presented as a great victory, which was very important for the liberation of Pakistan.