As predicted in this column, the government faced no serious checks while rushing through all ropes, parliamentary rules required for approving a Finance Bill.

Only on one occasion during the National Assembly sitting of Monday, the Opposition tried to take advantage of thin-looking numbers on treasury benches. But true to his conduct of an audacious facilitator, Qasim Suri, the Deputy Speaker, was too willing to provide enabling time to the government.

As if to beat Suri in the game of proving loyalty and utility, Speaker Asad Qaisar also rushed to take his chair. Deliberately stretched comings and goings eventually helped the government to crowd its benches in visible panic. Even the prime minister had to leave the comfort of his chambers.

The government could still have defeated the Opposition, which had 138 members sitting in the House. But even after embarrassing SOS efforts, the government also showed the support of 172 members in the end.

Lest you forget, this number (172) merely comprises the simple majority in a house of 342. And, if the prime minister and the Deputy Speaker were not present in their seats during the headcount of Monday, this number could have dropped to 170, sending the ominous message of losing the majority by the Imran government. At least eight legislators, supporting the ruling alliance, indeed appeared as if being “deliberately absent” on Monday.

The way I am discussing ‘numbers’ might look “trivial” to many, not familiar with parliamentary nuances. But in a real parliament, ‘numbers’ remain crucial for a sitting government and Imran Khan certainly needs to seriously ponder over the absence of eight treasury members on a very important day of the parliamentary calendar.

But if observed from another angle, the headcount on Monday could still be disregarded with casual shrugs. After all, we have been enduring a hybrid version of democracy in this country since 2018. Parliament essentially acts merely as trappings for this version. The prime minister could thus forget and forgive. 

Yet, one can’t ignore that the principle of “no taxation without representation” had eventually led to the creation of an elected parliament in human history. Simply put, the parliamentary system of democracy has to ensure that ordinary citizens clearly know why “their representatives” felt the need of approving this or that tax or any new law. But Speaker Asad Qaisar hardly felt any shame in denying us this fundamental privilege.

 

Along with “budgetary proposals,” the finance minister also wanted the National Assembly to approve massive amendments in various laws and rules, covering the whole process of tax collection. The real time execution of these rules is set to radically change many deeply entrenched traditions of our ‘informal economy’. Pursuing the noble sounding idea of achieving “completely documented economy,” Tarin wanted to empower tax collectors with visibly draconian powers as well.

 

Seeking approval for his cunningly designed initiatives, Tarin should have comprehensively read all amendments suggested by him, besides explaining the justification for them. But Speaker Asad Qaisar facilitated the finance minister to elude this task. To ‘save time,’ he rather declared that the suggested amendments should be considered “as read” and the house should approve them, there and then.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the PPP Chairman, tried to stop him from ruthless butchering of well-established practices and traditions. But Asad Qaisar preferred acting deaf.

 

The new set of laws and rules, Shaukat Tarin had shrewdly gotten approved from the National Assembly, would take at least three more months to expose their biting sides. They will hit, hard, the majority of mid-level traders, retailers and vendors etc. Huge segments of low-income groups will also feel the pinch due to the imposition of General Sales Tax on almost each item of everyday consumption.

 

Yet, Imran Khan and his loyalists felt jubilant regarding the smooth and speedy passage of the proposed budget. Their excitement seemed oblivious of the fact that while “reforming and modernising” the practices of doing business and collecting taxes in this country, Tarin had essentially focused on extracting more revenues from those segments, considered decisive for winning or losing the general election. “The technocrat” in Tarin also got away with selling the illusion that preparing a “growth-driven budget,” he had firmly disregarded a huge set of recommendations coming from the IMF like a patriotic populist.

 

The missing of Shehbaz Sharif, the Opposition Leader in the National Assembly and the president of Pakistan Muslim League (N), during the critical phases of budget-passing rituals was widely noticed. The leader of the largest opposition party in this assembly was not around to lead any serious moves for creating hurdles in budget passing process.

 

Pakistan Peoples’ Party, on the other hand, remained present in full strength throughout the Monday sitting. After a long gap, Asif Ali Zardari, the former president and the PPP leader, also came to the House. Syed Khursheed Shah, a veteran parliamentarian from the same party, was also brought to the house due to the production order, finally signed by the Speaker with a reluctant heart. The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had arrested Khursheed Shah around two years ago for grave charges of corruption. Without bail and production orders, he could not attend the assembly proceedings throughout this period.

 

Disregarding the party divide, all the opposition members warmly welcomed the entry of Khursheed Shah with spirited desk thumping. A large crowd of parliamentary reporters also came, specially, to Parliament House, primarily to meet him. In spite of facing tough times, the member from Sukkur looked cool and smiling. “This too shall pass,” was the message he kept transmitting.

 

Asif Ali Zardari preferred not to widely interact with media. When caught by a big crowd of parliamentary reporters while moving to the house, he tried to laugh at the “tamed and manufactured government” of Imran Khan with usual grins. He was just not willing to guess for how long the same government could survive. But he was noticeably worried about the developing scene in Afghanistan; also demanded “categorical and satisfactory answers” to questions, triggered due to claims made by an Israeli newspaper regarding the allegedly covert contact between Pakistan and Israel the other day.