The National Assembly today rejected the motion seeking a demand for supplementary sum not exceeding 21 billion rupees to the federal government to meet the expenditure other than charged during the current fiscal year in respect of the Election Commission Pakistan to hold general elections in Punjab.
The motion was moved by Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar.
The National Assembly, which resumed its session in Islamabad on Tuesday with Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf in the chair, unanimously adopted a resolution paying rich tribute to the services and contribution of late Mufti Abdul Shakoor in restoring peace in erstwhile tribal areas and making outstanding arrangements for Hajj.
The resolution also commended Mufti Abdul Shakoor’s special efforts for convincing the Saudi Government to reduce Hajj expenditures for Pakistani pilgrims.
It demanded conferring a national award on late Mufti Abdul Shakoor.
At the outset, the House offered Fateha for the departed soul of Mufti Abdul Shakoor.
Speaking on the occasion, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif acknowledged the services and contribution of late Mufti Abdul Shakoor for making the best arrangements on the Hajj last year.
Talking about the precarious economic situation of the country, he said Mufti Abdul Shakoor was very concerned in this regard.
The Prime Minister said Mufti Abdul Shakoor also proposed to invite overseas Pakistanis to sponsor their loved ones or themselves by sending foreign exchange for Hajj this year.
He said the cabinet approved that proposal, which was a great contribution of Mufti Abdul Shakoor to raise foreign exchange reserves of Pakistan.
Turning to economic situation of the country, the Prime Minister announced that Saudi Arabia has deposited two billion dollars and another one billion dollars by the United Arab Emirates to increase foreign exchange reserves of Pakistan, fulfilling another condition of the International Monetary Fund.
Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif has demanded of the Speaker National Assembly to probe the plunder of three billion dollars by the previous regime of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.
Speaking on the floor of the House, he said the PTI-led government had received a soft loan of three billion dollars during the pandemic. He said the previous rulers plundered that amount by disbursing it to their cronies. He urged the Speaker to give directions to the concerned committee of the National Assembly to probe this matter and present its report before the House.
The chair referred the matter to the finance committee of the National Assembly with the direction to lay its report before the House.
Annual Report of the State Bank on the State of the Pakistan’s Economy for the year, 2021-22, Mid-year Budget Review Report for the year, 2022-23 and the the annual report of the National Accountability Bureau for the year, 2022 were laid before the House.
Speaking on the floor, Law Minister Azam Nazir Tarar said to strengthen democracy, elections should be held in the entire country at the same time.
He said, for this purpose the House has already passed a resolution over Supreme Court’s controversy.
The Minister said the permission to release funds from Federal Consolidated Fund other than charged expenditures can only be granted from this House.
The House will now meet tomorrow [Tuesday] at 12 p.m.
