ISLAMABAD – Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Senator Palwasha Khan has submitted a privilege motion against Federal Minister for Communications Abdul Aleem Khan over a heated exchange during a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Communications.
Addressing a press conference along with PPP leader Sehar Kamran, Senator Palwasha Khan said the altercation during the committee meeting was unacceptable and urged Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to rein in his ministers. She maintained that elected representatives have the right to ask questions in parliamentary committees and would raise the matter at every available forum.
“We are public representatives and had only sought an answer to a legitimate question during the committee meeting. The issue is not the question, but the refusal to answer it,” she said. She added that ministers are accountable to parliament and must respond to queries regarding the use of public funds.
Palwasha Khan said the question pertained to a road constructed with taxpayers’ money, asking whether it was meant for public use or for a private housing society.
She confirmed that a privilege motion had been submitted against the federal minister and that the matter would now be taken up in the Senate, where a decision would be made by President Asif Ali Zardari.
Recalling the incident, she said the exchange of harsh words during the committee meeting would not be ignored. She also condemned what she described as inappropriate conduct towards a woman parliamentarian.
It may be recalled that a few days ago, a verbal altercation took place between Federal Minister Abdul Aleem Khan and Senator Palwasha Khan during a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Communications. The argument escalated to the point where both sides exchanged remarks such as “shut up” and “you shut up.”
On the intervention of committee chairman Pervez Rasheed, the federal minister later offered a conditional apology to the senator.
