Zardari asks Nawaz to support RGST

Replying to a letter by PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif, President Asif Ali Zardari sought his support regarding the Reformed General Sales Tax (RGST) Bill.

Zardari stated that it was the PML-N senator Ishaq Dar who had agreed to impose the tax through 15 amendments sent to the National Assembly.

In a detailed reply, President Zardari said that the PML-N should come up with suggestions on how to deal with issues the country was facing at the moment. He said that the PML-Ns reservations with the accountability bill would also be addressed. The PML-N had insisted that the head of the accountability commission should be a sitting judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

The president also said that the government has nothing to do with petroleum prices as they were linked to the international market. He added that an elaborate business plan was being developed for national institutions, such as Pakistan Railways and Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), to make them more profitable.

The PML-N chief had earlier written a letter to the president, extending full support of his party if the government agreed to the PML-Ns agenda.

We Support Indiscriminate Accountability: PM Gilani

News Trends: Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani has said that the government endorsed transparent and indiscriminate accountability.
Addressing the National Assembly, the PM rejected the perception that the government is against the people while the Opposition is not, saying that the people should themselves realize which policy is better for them.

Accountability Bill was the first thing our government brought, the PM maintained, adding that we are for indiscriminate accountability. He lamented that accountability was not transparent during the previous regimes. He alleged the Opposition of targeting one institute and that also on purpose. Reply to Nawazs letter would certainly be sent after return of President Zardari, the PM told the NA. Referring to the interception of ministers cars at Shahra-e-Dastoor, the Premier said no such incident took place even the minster named are not confirming it; I even talked to the COAS regarding the issue. Regarding the IMF loan issue and the conditions set by the organization, Gilani said that I did take the Cabinet on board in this respect. About reformed GST Bill, he said that only MQM had some reservations over it who contacted the Finance Minister to get them addressed. He said that all the four Chief Ministers approved the RGST Bill. The provinces asked the federation to give Rs 160 billion in aid for the flood victims, Reformed GST is the only way to help the flood victims, the PM asserted.

Earlier, while addressing the NA, Chaudhry Nisar maintained that even the House was not taken on board vis–vis RGST Bill let alone the allies.
He said that the PM did announce to consult us all but he did not. He warned those at the helm against anti-public decisions.

Ready to play role to make Parliament capable: Ch. Nisar

Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: The Opposition leader in the National Assembly, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, has said that if the governance norms do not change then we are ready to play a role to make the Parliament capable of its task.

Ch. Nisar said, during his National Assembly’s address on Thursday, that the Charter of Democracy (COD) has been implemented only 25 percent, instead of the claimed 80 percent.

He added that the Prime Minister presented, before the public, a twisted version on martial law and mid-term elections while just because of the ignorance of the government, the Accountability Bill has turned a victim of delay.

“The Speaker of the National Assembly must take a suo moto action against the attack on the house of an honorable member,” Chaudhry Nisar added. Trend Pk

Gilani for early finalization of Accountability Bill

Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani has directed the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs to expedite the drafting of Accountability Bill for presentation before the Parliament.He asked the Law and Justice Committee of National Assembly to hold frequent meetings to finalize the Accountability Bill.

The Prime Minister gave these directions in a meeting with Minister for Law, Dr. Zaheeruddin Babar Awan, Minister for Labour and Manpower Syed Khursheed Shah, Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Qamar Zaman Kaira and Chairperson National Assembly Committee on Law and Justice, Begum Naseem Akhtar Chaudhry at the PM House on Wednesday.

The Prime Minister emphasized the need of taking all the stakeholders on board before finalizing the Accountability Bill. He said that Pakistan Peoples Party believes in across-the-board and transparent accountability. He added that there should be no discrimination in the process of accountability. The Prime Minister also directed that there should be clear difference between the victimization and accountability so that peoples trust in the process could be restored.

Gilani calls for early finalization of Accountability Bill

Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani has directed the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs to expedite the drafting of Accountability Bill for presentation before the Parliament.He asked the Law and Justice Committee of National Assembly to hold frequent meetings to finalize the Accountability Bill.
The Prime Minister gave these directions in a meeting with Minister for Law, Dr. Zaheeruddin Babar Awan, Minister for Labour and Manpower Syed Khursheed Shah, Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Qamar Zaman Kaira and Chairperson National Assembly Committee on Law and Justice, Begum Naseem Akhtar Chaudhry at the PM House on Wednesday.
The Prime Minister emphasized the need of taking all the stakeholders on board before finalizing the Accountability Bill. He said that Pakistan Peoples Party believes in across-the-board and transparent accountability. He added that there should be no discrimination in the process of accountability. The Prime Minister also directed that there should be clear difference between the victimization and accountability so that peoples trust in the process could be restored.

Chairman NAB orders for speedy accountability

National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has ordered for filing 7 different references under corruption charges against ex-MD PEPCO Tahir Basharat Cheema and ex-Chairman CDA Kamran Lashari, Dunya News reported on Wednesday.
The meeting of the executive board of NAB was held in Islamabad which was presided by the newly appointed Chairman NAB Deedar Hussain Shah. Different pending cases of corruption of different departments were discussed during the meeting. It was decided in the meeting that inquiry would be carried out against the ex-MD PEPCO Tahir Basharat Cheema in light of the recently published report of Transparency International whereas an inquiry was also ordered against Kamran Lashari for alleagal allotment of plot to a food company. According to NAB sources, other prominent cases include the case of Abdul Khaliq of Lahore for misappropriating funds worth 20.5 million rupees and the case of Shamshad Gulzar for misappropriation in the funds of Lahore mass transit system. NAB has also said that Anwar Rajwani of ARK garments and Muhammad Ashraf of Noori Corporation have not returned millions of rupee loans of different banks as yet. NAB sources have also said that at least 17 people are involved in corruption scandal of Post Office Employees Cooperative Housing Society.
According to NAB, serious corruption cases against ex-member of KhyberPakhtunkhwa board of revenue Abdul Hamid Khan and Ashfaq Kahlid of PTCL Quetta were also on the agenda of the meeting.
On the other hand inquiries against Ministry of Housing and irregularities in the purchase of Railway engines have also been ordered by the NAB. The Chairman has also ordered the officials of NAB to prepare more cases of corruption and misappropriation of funds by the next executive meeting of the NAB.

PM dismisses Foreign Service Officer GR Baloch

Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani has dismissed a Foreign Service officer G.R. Baloch upon conviction from the accountability court.
According to an official declaration G.R. Baloch was involved in misappropriation of powers during his stay in US as counsel general and was found involved in issuing illegal passports.
A Rawalpindi accountability court convicted G.R. Baloch and decided a penalty of one year imprisonment as well as a fine of Rs. 10,000 for him.
G.R. Baloch was working as director general research division in the foreign office. He was appointed as the first counsel general in US state of Houston in 2004 when the consulate was opened for the first time in the state. G.R. Baloch was a captain in Pak Army and joined foreign services on armed forces quota.

Justice Deedar’s appointment as NAB chairman challenged

Justice (r) Syed Deedar Hussains appointment as NAB chairman has been challenged in the Lahore High Court, Dunya News reported on Saturday.
Barrister Iqbal Jafri has maintained in his plea that Justice Deedar was not eligible for this post and his appointment was against the Constitution because as per 18th Amendment, consultation with Chief Justice of Pakistan and Opposition was necessary for this appointment which has not been made in this case. Fifteen clauses of the Constitution have been violated for the appointment of NAB chairman. The petitioner has also maintained that he was more educated than Justice Deedar and he had formally applied for the post some 15 years ago.
The federal government had appointed Justice (r) Deedar Hussain Shah as Chairman National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Friday, while PML-N and ANP had rejected the move.

Govt not Obstacle in Accountability lLaw: Awan

ISLAMABAD: Federal Law Minister Babar Awan has said that the government has not been an obstacle in passage of the Accountability Bill. He said passing the bill into law is responsibility of the National Assembly.

NAB ordinance was issued in broad daylight and in accordance with the rules and regulations, he said.

Speaking on the floor of the lower house, Babar Awan said that news reports regarding issuance of NAB ordinance in the darkness of night are baseless and false and is a part of media trial against the government.

He told that on Sept 6, 2010 summary was sent to Prime Minister after which PM secretariat forwarded the summary to President on 7th September as advice. On 8th September the President inked the summary and approved the summary.

On 9th September the summary was sent back to the Law Ministry by the PM secretariat and on 16 September a notification to this effect was published in the gazette.

“We are not afraid of accountability,” he said.

He said those involved in manhandling of lawyers will be taken to task and cases will be registered against those involved in beating the lawyers during a protest.

NATO Apologizes For Strikes Inside Pakistan: PM Gilani

News Trends: Prime Minister Yousaf Raza said that NATO has apologized over strikes inside Pakistan and the government will use other options if the NATO forces didnt stop striking inside countrys territory.
Answering the point of objection in the National Assembly, the PM said that strikes inside Pakistan was violation of its sovereignty which would not be tolerated. The PM told the House that he had conveyed concern over the recent increase in US drone attacks and NATO helicopter strikes inside Pakistan to Senator John Kerry. He also informed Kerry about the unanimous condemnation of the attacks by the Pakistan parliament.
The PM also said that he was unaware about issuance of any secret amendment in the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) ordinance. He said the NAB was subordinated to the PM but I made it subordinate to Ministry of Law and Farooq Naek was the Law Minister.
He said that the government will present Accountability Bill in the Parliament. He said that Musharraf called me when he appointed Salman Taseer as Governor of Punjab. He said that the government didnt want Musharraf-like consultation with Opposition Leader Ch. Nisar.

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