ISLAMABAD: Despite the State-Owned Enterprises (Governance and Operations) Bill, 2024 being hurried through the legislature, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif reassured the National Assembly on Wednesday that the government has not planned to export wheat from the nation.
This contentious amendment, which was approved by the Senate the week before and would go into effect with President Asif Ali Zardari’s approval, permits the government to dismiss board members of SOEs based on recommendations by the board nominating committee.
“I wish to state clearly in front of the House that there has been no decision regarding wheat exports,” the prime minister stated in response to the opposition leader’s charges against Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi.
Earlier, when Mr. Naqvi was the temporary chief minister of Punjab, Omar Ayub had accused him of earning hundreds of billions in an alleged wheat import fraud. The head of the opposition also voiced reservations over plans to export wheat. On the other hand, PM Shehbaz stated that it was documented that during the PTI’s tenure in office, wheat and sugar were initially exported and then imported. “It is part of history where the billions and trillions of rupees went,” he said.
In contrast to the PTI’s term under Asad Qaiser, who he said frequently refused him permission to speak as opposition leader, the prime minister lauded National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq for being liberal in granting time to the opposition. Asad Qaiser, a former speaker, disputed these assertions and urged the prime minister to confirm the information in the documents.
The opposition leader used to talk for hours during Mr. Qaiser’s term, and he was even granted the floor prior to the finance minister’s budget speech—a first in the history of the nation’s legislature.
He insisted that the present parliament is subject to censorship and has devolved into a debate club, citing the fact that the National Assembly sessions were broadcast live at the time.
Mr. Qaiser also brought up the intimidation of legislators and the recent raid on the home of the opposition leader. Defense Minister Khawaja Asif responded by recalling the arrests of several PML-N parliamentarians under the PTI government and bemoaning the fact that Mr. Qaiser never gave them production orders.
Sustaining the rules for quick consideration, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar tabled the bill through a supplemental agenda on behalf of Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb. Syed Naveed Qamar, the chairman of the NA Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue, had earlier given a report on the bill from the committee.
