NA speaker bulldozes opposition’s ‘B-Team’
Asad Qaiser did not pay any heed to the opposition’s vapid sloganeering
NA Speaker Asad Qaiser, PHOTO: Anadolu Agency/FILE
ISLAMABAD:
The opposition kept shouting slogans, “
Jago Jago, Speaker Jago!” [wake up, wake up, speaker wake up] exactly when Asad Qaiser was busy bulldozing the opposition’s “B-Team” by passing one bill after another and sarcastically asking them to take the floor and give speeches instead of protesting around his desk.
Commotion had almost no effect on the speaker and he did not pay any heed to the opposition’s vapid sloganeering a day after the deadline given by the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) – an anti-government alliance of the opposition parties formed in last September – to Prime Minister Imran Khan to resign fell flat on its face.
The government on Tuesday told a parliamentary panel that there was no chairman of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Authority at present as members of the National Assembly had challenged the legal status of the defunct agency and the functioning of its top management. AP/File
ISLAMABAD: The government on Tuesday told a parliamentary panel that there was no chairman of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Authority at present as members of the National Assembly had challenged the legal status of the defunct agency and the functioning of its top management.
After interesting discussions and a brief break to allow senior officials of the Ministry of Planning and Development to seek clarifications, the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Planning, Development and Special Initiatives deferred “The China Pakistan Economic Corridor Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2020” to its next meeting.
LAHORE: Pakistan is preparing a plan to include agriculture sector projects in the Chinese-funded corridor building framework, it was learnt on Friday.Ministry of food security initiated the.
CPEC: Pakistan army to gain control of $60 billion Belt & Road projects
Sun Online Desk
15th December, 2020 09:40:17
Pakistan recently cleared a bill in Parliament that will virtually give the powerful army sweeping control over the $60 billion China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects while diminishing the role of the civilian government. The proposed law has caused discomfort in the opposition ranks and sparked concerns over the possible implications of establishing a parallel government . Here s what the proposed law means and why it s controversial:
Who s calling the shots?
In 2019, the Imran Khan government had passed an ordinance to establish the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor Authority (CPECA) for timely execution of big-ticket CPEC projects. It was widely speculated that CPECA was established to please China, which had expressed dismay over the slow progress on the CPEC front and wanted the army to get directly involved. Not surprisingly, Prime Minister Imran
Imran Khan
A bill passed in the Pakistan parliament that hands over near-absolute control to its armed forces regarding the $60 billion worth China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects, thus greatly reducing the government’s importance in it.
This new bill has caused immense unrest among the opposition and the prospect of a parallel government existing alongside the official one, or worse, a coup by the military, similar to what happened in the past. The Pakistani armed forces are constantly becoming more powerful in the country’s internal politics, if not militarily.
A mandate to establish the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor Authority or the CPECA was passed by Imran Khan-led Pakistan government in the year 2019. This authority was established to ensure timely execution of CPEC projects.