The Senate on Friday expressed gratitude to the President Asif Ali Zardari for his address to the joint sitting of the parliament.
Winding up debate on president’s address to the joint sitting of the
parliament, Minister for Law and Justice Moula Bakhsh Chandio said it
is the distinction of the incumbent president that he addressed the
joint sitting for the fourth consecutive time which is unprecedented in
the history.
He said though the opposition parties resorted to the protest
during the speech but this also reflects that the parliamentary norms
and traditions are gaining strengthen in the country. He said it is the
right of the opposition to criticize the president’s address but it
should be constructive and not be criticism for the sake of criticism.
He said the president’s address envisages future course of action for
the country and the opposition’s criticism in this regard is baseless.
The Law Minister said the country is facing multiple challenges and
not a single party can overcome them. Therefore all the political
parties should join hands to put the country on the path of development
and promotion of democracy. He said the credit goes to the present
government for restoring the constitution in its original form and due
to its prudent policies the government has entered into its fourth year
of tenure.
Referring to the steps taken for the welfare of the people Moula
Bakhsh Chandio said the present government gave fifty per cent raise in
the salaries to the employees last year besides the fifteen per cent
increase this year. In addition, the laborers and workers have been
given shares in public entities. He said a plan is also under
consideration to give land to the landless farmers in the Sindh
province.
Earlier taking part in the debate Taking part in the debate
Professor Khurshid Ahmad expressed dismay over the presidential address
saying it did not highlight the issues faced by the country and the
future policies and initiatives of the government. He said the
president is the symbol of the federation and its office should not be
used for political purposes.
Ishaque Dar said the country is facing the challenges of extremism
and terrorism and it is high time for the government and the president
to give a clear road map to confront them. He said the president in
his address has mentioned about tax reforms, revival of economy and
restructuring of state-owned institutions but regrettably no step in
that direction has yet been taken.
He said we should exploit our natural resources besides extending
support to the agriculture and industrial sectors to achieve a
sustainable economic growth rate. SANA
