Pakistan needs to set its priorities right, where Zainab Alert takes eight months to turn into a bill, while amendments to the Services Act take six days, to pass through all the stages, said PTI's MNA Sher Arbab while addressing the parliament's budget session on Tuesday.
"When the Zainab case emerged, many of us, out of sympathy for the deceased girl, spoke a lot about it, the MNA said, "we even resorted to [use the opportunity to] politically respond to our opponents." But, he added, it took eight months for the Zainab Alert to become a bill.
https://twitter.com/mosharrafzaidi/status/1275754118271963136
"It went to the National Assembly, then to the standing committee, and then to the Senate and to their standing committee for the purpose of debate," he explained.
On the other hand, the MNA added, [not one but] three amendments into the Service Acts for the extensions took only six days to pass through all the respective stages.
"Notice the difference here," he said, "look at our complacency in cases such as that of Zainab and our immediate response to some of the other issues. And then, he added, we talk about one leader being selected, and the other being elected.
The MNA said if the Pakistan must progress, it must three major steps. "it must make the Parliament practically sovereign, which means that the politicians must not have 'any skeletons in their cupboards'. Secondly, he added, we have to be honest that we need an independent judiciary, free from all outside interference whatsoever. "And third, we need a depoliticised executive, both civil and military. "The country cannot move forward without this."
Concluding, Sher Arbab said [this is needed to be done because] it is evident from the global standing that whether it is the debt, public service delivery, health or the education sector, we are only moving backwards.
Zainab Alert is a gadget that was developed to alert authorities about the possible abduction of children anywhere in the province. On October 17, 2018, Imran Ali, the man who raped and murdered six-year-old Zainab Ansari, was executed in Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat prison. The case was one of the most heinous incidents in a string of child murders in Kasur, and it had sparked widespread outrage in the country.
"When the Zainab case emerged, many of us, out of sympathy for the deceased girl, spoke a lot about it, the MNA said, "we even resorted to [use the opportunity to] politically respond to our opponents." But, he added, it took eight months for the Zainab Alert to become a bill.
https://twitter.com/mosharrafzaidi/status/1275754118271963136
"It went to the National Assembly, then to the standing committee, and then to the Senate and to their standing committee for the purpose of debate," he explained.
On the other hand, the MNA added, [not one but] three amendments into the Service Acts for the extensions took only six days to pass through all the respective stages.
"Notice the difference here," he said, "look at our complacency in cases such as that of Zainab and our immediate response to some of the other issues. And then, he added, we talk about one leader being selected, and the other being elected.
The MNA said if the Pakistan must progress, it must three major steps. "it must make the Parliament practically sovereign, which means that the politicians must not have 'any skeletons in their cupboards'. Secondly, he added, we have to be honest that we need an independent judiciary, free from all outside interference whatsoever. "And third, we need a depoliticised executive, both civil and military. "The country cannot move forward without this."
Concluding, Sher Arbab said [this is needed to be done because] it is evident from the global standing that whether it is the debt, public service delivery, health or the education sector, we are only moving backwards.
Zainab Alert is a gadget that was developed to alert authorities about the possible abduction of children anywhere in the province. On October 17, 2018, Imran Ali, the man who raped and murdered six-year-old Zainab Ansari, was executed in Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat prison. The case was one of the most heinous incidents in a string of child murders in Kasur, and it had sparked widespread outrage in the country.