The Senators of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) organized a demonstration on Tuesday during a session of the Senate against the controversial channel project, accusing the federal government of water theft and calling for an urgent debate on the issue.
The session, chaired by the president of the Senate, Yousaf, Raza Gillani, began with opposition members expressing his frustration of not having had time to increase the order points, Express News reported.
Tensions degenerated when the PPP senators stood from their seats, singing slogans such as “non -acceptable water thieves” and “stop stealing water from the Sindh”.
Senator Saifullah Abro highlighted the demonstrations in progress in the Sindh, where people have been demonstrating for more than a week. He stressed that several parties had submitted resolutions to the Senate against the canal project and demanded a chance to speak.
President Gillani answered by asking Senator Abro to speak after questions. However, Abro organized a sit-in in front of the president’s platform.
Gillani suggested that the case will be brought to the field for debate through coordination with Sherry Rehman Senator. PPP senators, dissatisfied with the response, organized a raising of the session.
Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar reassured the House that the government was open to dialogue and that no decision would be forced without appropriate consultation. He confirmed that the members of the cabinet were present to answer questions.
In the middle of the demonstration, President Gillani noted a call to the quorum, but initially confirmed that the house had the number of members required. However, a subsequent charm revealed that the quorum was incomplete, which caused the bells in the galleries of the Senate.
The demonstration intensified with the Senators of Pakistan Tehreek-E-insaf (PTI) who raised noisy slogans. Senator Humayun Mohmand has criticized the government, declaring that it was shameful for treasury members to raise objections to the quorum. Senator Falak Naz Chitrali sang: “The PPP drowned in shame.”
At one point, only one senator from Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Nasir Butt, was sitting in the room.
Opposition chief Shibli Faraz also criticized the government, stressing that Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa had been deprived of his representation of the Senate for a year. He condemned the fact of not filling the vacant seat left by Sania Nishtar and said that some parties had blocked the electoral process.
President Gillani replied that the electoral commission had been duly informed of the vacant seat. However, as the quorum remained incomplete with only 19 members present, the president postponed the session until Friday at 10:30 am.
