Defending its decision to appoint new ambassador to the United States, the government contended on Wednesday that the Prime Minister had a quota of 20 per cent appointments of non-career diplomats as envoys.Responding to a call-attention notice submitted by a PTI Senator on Ali Jehangir Siddiqui’s appointment as the new ambassador to Washington, Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif said that there was no legal bar on appointing a person without any background in diplomacy.Senator Samina Saeed of PTI, the mover of the notice, questioned the logic of appointing a person who was facing corruption charges to such a sensitive post.The only qualification the new appointee possessed was that he was Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi’s business partner.She said such appointments should first be discussed in foreign affairs committees of both the houses of parliament.“He may be a good businessman but he has no relevant experience,” she said.Referring to an incident where the prime minister was subjected to body search during his US trip, she said it showed weak foreign policy.Her critical remarks irked PML-N’s Sadia Abbasi, the prime minister’s sister. The two ladies exchanged harsh words, creating a rumpus in the house. However, chairman Senate intervened and pacified the situation.Citing past examples, the foreign minister insisted that this appointment was not a new phenomenon.“Politicians, businessmen, government servants and others have been appointed to these posts in the past. There is nothing wrong with it,” he remarked.“These positions were filled by politicians, businessmen, government servants and others,” he contended.He said under existing laws, parliament had no role in such appointments. He asked the opposition legislators to bring a bill to amend relevant laws.The foreign minister claimed that the prime minister’s US tour was a ‘private visit’ where he followed security procedures at the US airport. He believed Prime Minister has set a good precedent by avoiding protocol for his private trips.Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s foreign tours cost Rs1 billion to the national exchequer, Senate was informed.Between June 2013 and July 2017, Sharif made 64 visits abroad – an average of 16 tours a year.These statistics were presented by the foreign ministry during the question-hour.The foreign ministry also apprised the house that since January 2016, as many as 66 Pakistanis were executed in Saudi Arabia. During the three months of 2018, eight Pakistani nationals had been executed in the kingdom.There were 1,357 Pakistani prisoners in a jail in Riyadh while 1,580 Pakistani prisoners were languishing in Jeddah region, the ministry said.The foreign minister said that the government would try to appoint lawyers in Jeddah and Riyadh for providing legal assistance to Pakistanis. However, he was not optimistic in this regard because of the system in place in Saudi Arabia.In response to a supplementary question by PPP’s Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, foreign minister said there were four Pakistanis still languishing in Guantanamo Bay.Chairman Senate Sadiq Sanjrani intervened and said one of them belonging to Chagai district had been freed and had since returned home.The ministry of health cited another startling report. It claimed that Pakistan ranked 54th amongst 84 countries with a high prevalence of tobacco smoking.Figures showed that at least 24 million Pakistanis – almost every fifth adult Pakistani uses tobacco.The Senate passed a unanimous resolution against the bombing of a religious seminary in Kunduz, Afghanistan in which more than 80 children were killed.The resolution was moved by JUI-F’s Senator Maulana Attaur Rehman.Leader of Opposition Sherry Rehman filed an adjournment motion against alleged massive corruption in the construction of the new airport in the federal capital. The new Islamabad International Airport is scheduled to be inaugurated on April 20.She claimed to have proof in this regard and asked the chairman to hold a debate on this issue, which he accepted.