Senate Unanimously Pay Tributes To President On Address To Majlis-e-Shoora

The Senate on Tuesday unanimously expressed its deep gratitude to the President of Pakistan for his address to both Houses, at a joint session on September 17, last year

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 22nd Jan, 2019 ) :The Senate on Tuesday unanimously expressed its deep gratitude to the President of Pakistan for his address to both Houses, at a joint session on September 17, last year.

The motion of thanks was moved by Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Alli Muhammad Khan.

Speaking in the House, Ali Muhammad Khan said the vision of President was to make the country a place where merit prevails, offering equal opportunities to the depressed people to prosper.

He said the President has directed the government to adopt austerity measures. These measures will definitely trickle down to grassroots level to benefit the entire country, he added.

Vowing to make the country prosperous, the President has special focus on ending deprivations of small provinces including Balochistan and Sindh. The President focused on providing relief to drought-hit people of Balochistan and Sindh, he added.

He said the government was vigorously pursuing the vision of President to empower women population as educating a women means educating the entire family.

He said Pakistan intended to further strengthen relations with China and wanted equality based relations with India which was nearly impossible sans resolving Kashmir issue.

Earlier participating in debate on Presidential address, Senator Mir Kabir Muhammad Shahi said his party supported the 18th Amendment in which 101 Articles were changed.

Article 48 should have been modified under which President delivered his annual speech, he added.

He said United States had the tradition of State of the Union Address by its President, who underlines his vision for the next year.

He said in Britain, after the signing of Magna Carta, democratic traditions were opted and same traditions should be followed in Pakistan. The President should have defined the relations with the neighbouring countries and should have taken a clear line about relations specific foreign countries, he added.

Senator Tahir Bizenjo said people in Balochistan were facing issues of poverty, malnutrition and unemployment. He urged that the 18th Amendment should be implemented in letter and spirit, adding political parties would resist any move to subvert the 18th Amendment.

Senator Sussui Palijo criticized the President for not raising genuine issues of Sindh including water scarcity.

Muhammad Akram said several projects of Balochistan had already been shelved but the President did not highlight the Balochistan issues.

Dr Jehanzeb Jamaldeni said Pakistan was in isolation as the country does not enjoy good relations with neighbouring countries He pointed out that Gwadar lacked even basic amenities and wondered how it could be made a cosmopolitan city.

He said the 18th Amendment in the Constitution must not be rolled back.

A Rehman Malik said President should address the Upper and Lower Houses of Parliament separately at least once a year before addressing the joint session. He may get input from the Parliament and President should play his role in resolving the pressing issues being confronted by the provinces, he added.

He suggested that all provinces may dole out their 25 percent resources to Balochistan forcarrying development activities in that province.