ISLAMABAD: Legislators in the Upper House on Friday expressed serious reservations when informed that the government was unaware of how much the war against terrorism had cost the country.
Responding to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Senator Chaudhry Tanveer’s query from the finance ministry regarding the cost of the war so far, the reply stated that the interior ministry was yet to reply to the finance ministry’s query in this regard.
As the relevant minister was not present during the session, Federal Education Minister Baleeghur Rehman said that the government might not have details and the breakdown of the cost. He said that it could only be estimated as to how much was incurred since preparing a breakdown of the total cost would be a cumbersome process.
Expressing his shock over the response, Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani came down hard on the government for not knowing how much cost had been incurred in the war against terrorism. “The government will at some point has to answer this question,” he asserted.
Earlier, as the question-answer session began, the Senate chairman was irked at the absence of relevant ministers. In response, Mutahidda Qaumi Movement (MQM) Senator Atiq Shiekh commented that “when there’s no governance in the entire country, what you expect in parliament.” Later, Education Minister Baleeghur Rehman appeared in the Senate and apologised, saying he thought the proceedings would start later than they actually did. “Is the country being run from abroad,” asked Rabbani, after noting that the state ministers for energy and statistics were not in the country?
Published in Daily Times, November 11th 2017.
