Questioning Public Funds Is a Right, Not an Offence: Sherry
News Desk
Islamabad: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Sherry Rehman has demanded an apology from Federal Minister for Communications Abdul Aleem Khan over his “unacceptable” conduct towards Senator Palwasha Khan during a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Communications.
The demand followed a heated exchange between Aleem Khan and Senator Palwasha, also a PPP leader, after she questioned whether public funds were being used to construct a road allegedly benefiting a private housing scheme in Lahore.
In a post on social media platform X late Friday night, Senator Rehman said the incident could neither be normalised nor justified, stressing that no federal minister had the right to speak in such a manner to a member of Parliament during a committee meeting.
She emphasised that questioning government actions was Senator Palwasha’s constitutional responsibility and right.
Rehman said Aleem Khan owed an apology to the senator, adding that respect was due to her not because she was a woman, but because she was an elected and honourable member of Parliament.
The confrontation began when Senator Palwasha sought clarification on the use of taxpayers’ money for a road she alleged primarily served a private housing society.
In response, the minister warned that personal attacks would be answered in the same tone and accused committee members of resorting to blackmail and dishonesty, triggering strong objections from senators present.
Maintaining her stance, Senator Palwasha said she had only exercised her parliamentary right to seek accountability over public spending.
She later stated that she had been humiliated by the minister’s remarks and announced she would take up the matter with her party leadership.
Following intervention by committee chairman Senator Pervaiz Rashid, the minister offered an apology; however, Senator Palwasha refused to accept it.
Speaking to the media outside Parliament House, she reiterated that legislators had every right to question projects funded by public money, particularly if there were concerns about private interests benefiting from them. She also expressed disappointment over what she described as the collective conduct of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s cabinet
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