ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly was informed on Monday about the extravagant spending on foreign trips for cabinet members and the purchase of protocol vehicles during the government’s first nine months in power, just days after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced a national austerity plan amid a severe financial crisis.
On a day when Deputy Speaker Zahid Akram Durrani postponed pretty much the entire day’s agenda due to the absence of ministers, their deputies, and other cabinet members from the house after expressing his displeasure over the situation, the government provided the “partial” and “incomplete” information through written replies in response to various questions posed by members.
The lower house was informed, in answer to a question posed by Ghous Bux Mahar of the Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA), that 23 members of the federal cabinet had 23 international visits during the first nine months of the coalition government, costing Rs63.71 million.
Nevertheless, the list only includes trips that went via the Cabinet Division, according to the minister in charge of that division’s response.
The minister advised approaching the pertinent divisions for “full information” if the questioner so desired.
Because the GDA member had requested information regarding the foreign trips made by federal cabinet members in 2022, the response also included information regarding the travels made by former Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf ministers (PTI).
According to the report, the seven members of the previous government under Mr. Khan spent Rs6.26 million on their foreign travel.
The information is oddly lacking because the response lists the Federal Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal as having travelled to Switzerland from December 12 to December 14, but his name is absent from the list where expenses have been noted.
In a similar vein, the PPP argues that Foreign Minister and PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has been funding his trips out of his own pocket, therefore the answer makes no mention of the visits he has made.
The list includes Sherry Rehman, Ishaq Dar, Ahsan Iqbal, Azam Nazeer Tarar, Shazia Marri, Marriyum Aurangzeb, Asad Mehmood, Syed Naveed Qamar, Israr Tareen, Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Khurram Dastagir Khan, Dr. Musaddik Malik, Rana Tanveer Hussain, Aisha Ghaus Pas
Mr. Mahar objected to the vague response, saying that he had also requested the minister in question to explain the rationale behind these trips and “what gains Pakistan has made from these foreign visits.” At a time when the nation was going through a severe economic crisis, he also questioned the logic behind these visits.
“We lack funds. Just look at the amount of money spent on these visits to see that we are pleading for money. Waving a copy of the written response, the GDA member exclaimed, “What is this nonsense? Mr. Mahar also took issue with the response’s claim that only trips that went via the Cabinet Division were detailed.
According to the Guidelines on Visits Abroad dated October 26, 2018, “The Cabinet Division has not been assigned any role in processing the summaries of the visits of the federal ministers/ministers of state/ SAPM.
“The finance and international affairs divisions often provide the summaries of such visits to the Prime Minister’s Office. But, in a few instances, these visits were also forwarded to the PM Office through the Cabinet Division.
Mr. Mahar’s complaint was deemed valid by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Murtaza Javed Abbasi, who also instructed the deputy speaker to get a response from the appropriate divisions in order to have all the facts. He acknowledged that, as the GDA member had questioned, there had been no mention of the “purposes” of the trips. The minister was then instructed by the deputy speaker to deliver all pertinent information to the relevant committee.
AutoMobiles
The National Assembly was informed, in answer to another inquiry from PPP’s Sikandar Ali Rahoupoto, that the current administration had spent more than Rs57.3 million on a total of eight vehicles.
It stated that the acquisition of the automobiles received approval from the Finance Division before being approved by the secretary of the Cabinet Division. Eight of these vehicles were bought for “protocol responsibilities.” There are six 1800cc Toyota Corolla cars, a 29-seater Toyota VIP Coaster, a 14-seater Toyota High-Roof van, and more.
Ministers’ Absence
During the meeting, the subject of the ministers’ absence and lack of interest arose once more. What are the clergy members doing? This cannot be the way the house is run. While giving out the prorogation order issued by the president to adjourn the meeting sine die, Mr. Durrani stated, “This is the attitude of the ministers.
When the deputy speaker learned that the minister for power, Khurram Dastagir Khan, who was meant to move a bill, wasn’t present in the chamber, he became enraged. Due to Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah’s absence from the meeting, he had already postponed a calling attention notice on the increase in crime against women in Islamabad.
