ISLAMABAD: A Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar has slammed the Leader of the Opposition in the Upper House Yousaf Raza Gillani and the opposition leadership in general as the Senate passed the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Amendment Bill 2021 despite protest from the opposition benches.
Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar strongly criticised the absence of Yousaf Raza Gillani as the opposition leader in the Senate from the session in which the federal government led by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) managed to pass the SBP amendment bill despite the majority of opposition lawmakers in the Upper House.
The Senate had approved the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Amendment Bill 2021, aiming to grant complete autonomy to the central bank, presented by the Finance Minister Senator Shaukat Tarin with a slight lead of 43 members over the opposition’s 42.
In a Geo News programme Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath, PPP Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar blamed the opposition central leaders for taking the wrong decision to seek the support of the Dilawar Khan group for electing Gillani as the opposition leader in the Senate.
SBP amendment bill won’t come into effect for governor Reza Baqir, top brass
He admitted that he faced criticism from inside his own political party for criticising the central leadership. He said that the time is now proving his claims true. He alleged that the government has deliberately sent their lawmakers to shake up the opposition’s unity on important legislation.
ہم پارلیمنٹ میں بار بار شکست سے دو چار ہو رہے ہیں۔اپوزیشن صحیح سیاست نہیں کرپارہی۔جب ہمارے لیڈران اہم قانون سازی میں غیر حاضر ہونگے تو ہم خودمطمئن نہیں ہونگے تو عوام کو کیسے مطمئن کرینگے کہ واقعی اس حکومت کو ہٹانے میں سنجیدہ ہیں۔سینیٹر مصطفیٰ نواز کھوکھر
— Shahzeb Khanzada (@shazbkhanzdaGEO) January 28, 2022
Khokhar urged removing such lawmakers of Dilawar Khan group and BAP from the opposition benches. He added that the opposition has definitely faced back-to-back failures to block the passage of such legislation and said that the opposition parties are not taking appropriate political decisions against the incumbent government.
The PPP senator said that the opposition parties would also face a major failure in bringing a no-confidence motion if it does not change its style of politics. He also censured Leader of the Opposition in the NA Shahbaz Sharif for his absence in the key session in which the government had easily passed legislation of its own choice.
Shaukat Tarin clarifies authoritative limits of autonomous SBP
Answering a question, Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar affirmed that the opposition lawmakers should bring a no-confidence motion against the Senate chairman Sadiq Sanjrani if they agreed to be on the same page.
It is pertinent to mention here that the federal government, despite the tall claims of the opposition leaders to block its passage in the Senate, passed the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Amendment Bill 2021 on Friday.
The autonomy of the central bank was among one of the conditions set by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the release of a $1 billion tranche to Pakistan after the approval of Finance (Supplementary) Bill 2021.