Sanjrani\u2019s vote proves a catalyst after a tie
\n ISLAMABAD
\nThe government on Friday succeeded in clearing one of the major hurdles to revive a $6 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) package, as the Senate approved the State Bank of Pakistan (Amendment) Bill with a razor-thin majority amid pandemonium by the opposition in the house.
\nMembers of the opposition parties kept chanting slogans, tore copies of the bill and even laid siege to Chairman Sanjrani\u2019s dais to register their protest, demanding Prime Minister Imran Khan\u2019s resignation.
\nThe Senate passed the SBP (Amendment) Bill with a majority of only one vote, as 44 votes were cast in favour of the bill and 43 against it. Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani\u2019s decisive vote proved a catalyst for the government side who voted in favour of the bill and the PTI government managed to clinch victory.
\nEarlier, Minister for Finance Shaukat Tarin tabled the bill after dilly-dallying for a while as the numerical strength required for the passage of the bill was not there, giving an opportunity to the opposition to taunt the treasury benches.
\n\u201cIt is not my duty to present the bill, Shaukat Tarin should come back in the session,\u201d Senate Chairperson Sanjrani said. During the session, the opposition members raised slogans against the government and called for a debate on the bill in the house.
\nTaking advantage of the situation, Senator Sherry Rehman of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) congratulated the opposition, saying the very fact that the government was taking time to table the bill signalled its defeat. \u201cThe government should be ashamed of itself; it should resign forthwith. How shameful it is that it has failed to get a single bill passed from the house,\u201d she said it aloud.
\nRegretting that never ever in his life had he seen such disrespect being shown towards the Senate, another PPP Senator Farooq H Naek requested Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani to suspend the session.
\nMaulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl accused the government of compromising on the country\u2019s economy for the sake of the IMF.
\nThe National Assembly has already passed the bill during its session held a few weeks back. The bill weakens the Finance Ministry\u2019s control on the SBP and also clears one of the major hurdles to revive a $6 billion International Monetary Fund package. The Senate session was later prolonged until (Monday, January 31).
\nHe was of the opinion that the SBP bill could not be part of the agenda for a period of one month.
\nLater, it came to light that Awami National Party (ANP) Senator Umar Farooq Kasi had left the Senate hall prior to the voting on the SBP Amendment Bill, thus dealing a decisive blow to the opposition\u2019s bid to foil passage of the bill.
\nOther opposition leaders namely Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani, Nuzhat Sadiq, Senator Shafiq Tarin and Senator Talha Mehmood were also absent.
\nThe much-talked-about \u2018Dilawar Khan Group\u2019 voted in favour of the government-sponsored bill. The government members and its allies in the National Assembly and Senate voted in favour of the bill. Another bill titled \u201cSBP Amendment Act 2021\u201d is pending with the government and it is still unknown when the government will present it before the Parliament.
\nEarlier, the SBP Amendment Bill was included in the eight-point agenda of the Senate meeting, which was issued late Thursday night, at the eleventh hour. The SBP bill was related to the autonomy of the State Bank and the IMF conditions.
\nMinister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry, however, called this \u201canother success\u201d for the PTI government in a tweet to celebrate the passing of the bill.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sanjrani\u2019s vote proves a catalyst after a tie ISLAMABAD The government on Friday succeeded in clearing one of the major hurdles to revive a $6 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) package, as the Senate approved the State Bank of Pakistan (Amendment) Bill with a razor-thin majority amid pandemonium by the opposition in the house. Members […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-241297","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-top-news"},"yoast_head":"\n