PML-N, PPP join hands against govt in Senate

ISLAMABAD: Despite their serious differences, the two principal opposition forces — the Pakistan Muslim League-nawaz ( PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) — will team up to vote for a resolution rejecting a presidential ordinance relating to the Higher Education Commission (HEC) in the Senate.

PPP parliamentary leader Sherry Rehman submited the resolution disapproving the ordinance and said her party cannot let the government undermine the HEC’S autonomy. Making an overnight change in the HEC chairman’s term from four years to two is unacceptable, she said.

“We will undoubtedly vote for the disapproval of the HEC ordinance,” PML-N Secretary General Ahsan Iqbal said.

“The moment the ordinance was promulgated a few weeks back, we condemned it severely and demanded its withdrawal. When the government has not paid any heed to our calls, we are going to reject the ordinance through the disapproving resolution.”

He believed that the PML-N has also moved a similar resolution in the Senate. He said that reducing the HEC chief’s tenure was undesirable and untenable as the holder of such a very important position can’t do much in such short tenure. Secondly, he said, giving the ordinance retrospective effect was illegal and unconstitutional.

“Being a regulator, the HEC can’t be made subordinate to the education ministry. It has to work independently. What has been done to the HEC will play havoc with higher education and the economy,” Iqbal said.

Rehman asked the government why such ordinances were not being put before parliament for discussion.

The PPP would not let the government bypass the legislature and would not allow an ambush on the HEC’S autonomy. Instead of investing in education to ensure Pakistan’s future, the government has in fact cut down the HEC’S budget, she said, adding that their priorities are so skewed that they have not been able to even allocate a fixed percentage of the GDP to higher education.