ISLAMABAD: Despite reluctance to a perceived attempt to ‘belittle’ parliament, the treasury benches joined the Opposition in adoption of a unanimous motion in the National Assembly, asking the speaker to constitute a committee to investigate allegations of tax non-payment by the parliamentarians.
Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq had earlier agreed to take up, out of turn, the motion tabled by Asad Umar and six other members of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on the allegation of tax non-payment by parliamentarians on the insistence of PTI Chairman Imran Khan and Vice Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi — both of them noting that it was the sixth attempt to have the motion discussed — as well as support from opposition leader Khursheed Ahmed Shah of the PPP.
Even after Inter-Provincial Coordination Minister Riaz Hussain Pirzada agreed to the adoption of the motion, two members of the ruling PML-N from Punjab, Sheikh Rohale Asghar and Abdul Mannan, did not seem comfortable over the move, pointing out that all parliamentarians were paying taxes deducted from salaries at source.
Information and Broadcasting Minister Pervaiz Rashid also opposed any more discussion on the issue at the time after the house adopted the PTI motion, which said that the speaker constitute a special committee of up to 10 members belonging to major political parties “to investigate the allegations of non-payment of taxes by a number of parliamentarians and report within 90 days”. But PTI stalwart Javed Hashmi called for the probe to be extended beyond salaries paid to parliamentarians and include disclosure of their assets held abroad and made subject to the taxation system.
