National Assembly approves Rs 1.3 billion grants for petroleum ministry: Journalists end boycott

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ISLAMABAD, June 21 2006: Journalists on June 20 afternoon ended boycott of the National Assembly and the foreign office after the government accepted their seven demands about the murder of media men, late Hayatullah Khan and Sindh private television channel cameraman Munir Sangi. Information minister Muhammad Ali Durrani told newsmen after talks with journalists’ representatives here at the parliament house the government was committed to restore peace and providing journalists a conducive environment.

State minister for information Tariq Azeem and principal information officer Ashfaq Gondal flanked the minister. He assured a fact-finding mission would soon be dispatched to tribal areas, comprising journalist and parliamentarians, an FIR by the bereaved family would be registered, the judicial commission would furnish its report on the killing of Hayatullah within a month, increased compensation to his family members, arrest of persons to be nominated in the FIR, Rs 0.3 million compensation to Sangi’s family and early recovery of Mukaish, a private television channel correspondent from Jacobabad.

Journalists covering the National Assembly boycotted Saturday and June 19’s proceedings and also stayed away from the foreign office briefing to protest against the gory killing of their colleague in Mir Ali the other day, who was shot at from behind. They linked ending the boycott to the acceptance of their demands. Ministers and PIO held talks with journalists union leaders Afzal Butt, Nawaz Raza, Absar Aalam, Saud Sahar and Javed Soomro. After the news conference, the journalist fraternity ended the boycott and returned to the Press Gallery.

The minister said on such issues, “we should play a proactive role and the government will act swiftly in case a journalist faces any problem in discharging his duty”. He maintained compensation for Hayatullah’s family would be increased. He added a detailed report about the cold-blooded murder of Sangi had been sought from the Sindh inspector general for expediting the matter. Meanwhile, the National Assembly on June 20 approved 5 demands for grants of over Rs 1.3 billion for expenditure under various heads of the ministry of petroleum and natural resources after rejecting all 176 cut motions moved by opposition members.

Opposition lawmakers, who moved cut motions, castigated the government for a dubious POL pricing formula under the Oil Companies Advisory Committee, which compounded the common man’s financial difficulties. They flayed the government for not giving any relief to consumers in petroleum products’ prices despite their tall claims of economic turnaround and that benefits of high economic growth were reaching the masses. Opposition MNAs believed the petroleum ministry had not been able to supply gas to rural areas and small towns in different parts of the country despite announcing targets in this regard. They were of the firm view expenditures under various heads should be cut substantially.

The house adopted one by one all demands for grants to meet expenditure of the ministry of petroleum and natural resources through voice vote, as moved by minister of state for finance Omar Ayub Khan. Cut motions moved by opposition members, including Muhammad Hussain Mehanti, Shahida Akhtar Ali, Manzoor Wasan, Anwar Bhutto, Bilqees Saif, Mehreen Anwar Raja, Samina Khalid Ghurki, Aysha Munawar, Abid Sher Ali, Fauzia Wahab, Bakhtiar Mani, Fauzia Habeeb, Laeeq Khan, Nafisa Raja and Fazal-e-Subhan were rejected by treasury benches.

Members from opposition benches including Raja Pervez Ashraf, Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, Manzoor Wasan, Rahmatullah Khalil, Tasneem Qureshi, Syed Bakhtiar Mani, Pervez Malik, Fazal-e-Subhan, Bilqees Saif, Imtiaz Warriach, Fauzia Wahab, Laeeq Khan, Fauzia Habeeb, Nayyar Sultana, Hizbullah Bughio, Hamidul Haq Haqqani, Robina Saadat Qaimkhani and Maulana Asadullah spoke on the cut motions. Later, parliamentary affairs minister Sher Afgan Niazi assured the National Assembly a debate would be held on the recommendations of Council of Islamic Ideology (CII).

He was speaking in response to a number of Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal members contention that CII recommendations have not been implemented. Veteran MMA MNA Maulana Mohammad Khan Sherani had led his party’s walkout from the house on Friday against non-implementation of recommendations and not excluding interest-based chapters from the budget. Sher Afgan said wherever necessary laws would be changed in the light of CII recommendations. Religious affairs minister Ejazul Haq denied opposition’s claims that CII recommendations have not been presented in the parliament.

He informed the house these have already been laid before the National Assembly, Senate and four provincial assemblies. Earlier, opposition leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman said CII recommendations should be brought before the house and thoroughly debated. He also called for reconstituting the CII and Federal Shariat Court as, according to him, their members do not have the support of schools of thought they represent. MMA’s Liaquat Baloch called for a debate in the house and evolving consensus on making laws Islamic.
Source: B. Recorder
Date:6/21/2006

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