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ISLAMABAD - The Senate was told on Friday that the media cell at the Prime Minister’s House was bugging official meetings held there.

Senate Chairman Mian Raza Rabbani rejected the government’s reply that Dawn leak issue was between the two parties and now stood settled.

The remarks of the chairman came after Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sheikh Aftab Ahmed said that the matter was now settled between the two parties — the government and the army.

“You are not clear on this and tell what do you mean by the word “the two parties,” the chairman asked the minister, adding that this meant the government was not recognising Article 243(1). Under the constitution, the federal government had control over all the state institutions, he said. The minister answered that two parties meant that two institutions — the army and the government – and the issue was settled now. “I am not satisfied with the reply of government and I will consult with the Leader of the House, the Leader of the Opposition and the leaders of the parliamentary parties as to what Senate should do on it,” the chair remarked on the second day of the specially requisitioned session on the request of position. Who are the two parties, this should be clarified, he said.

Earlier, Leader of the Opposition Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan, while taking part in the debate, came down hard on government regarding Dawn leak issue and bugging of official meetings at the Prime Minister’s Office by its media cell. He alleged that Prime Minister Office’s media cell headed by PM’s daughter Maryum Nawaz was bugging important meetings being held there. Giving two examples, he said, the exact comments of the leadership during an All Parties Conference (APC) held at the PM House were leaked to the media by this media cell after bugging. “We all were sitting in the closed-door APC and some TV channels were running tickers about the exact statements of leaders of Jamaat-i-Islami and JUI-F,” he added. Secondly, he said, Sindh Governor Muhammad Zubair had also admitted in a TV show that they had been hearing all the proceedings of the meetings while sitting in media cell.

Aitzaz Ahsan again reiterated his statement that DG ISI was the relative of Maryam Nawaz Sharif. “I stand by my statement that ISI chief was the relative of Maryam Nawaz,” he said, adding a rebuttal should be issued if it was wrong instead of making a hue and cry by ISPR. He also said that the statement of Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan was wrong that Justice (Retd) Amir Raza Khan had said that he would sign the findings of the inquiry report on Dawn Leaks till a consensus was developed between all members of the committee. “I cannot believe this statement as this means that Justice (Retd) Khan had a veto power,” he said. And this was also apparent from the statement of interior minister and the Tweet of ISPR that there were differences between the members of the committee. He said that the story about the high-level security committee embarrassed the military leadership that was fighting war against terrorism. All three persons were made scapegoats in the case, he said and demanded the report should be presented on the floor of the house.

He demanded that the parliament should be informed what was settled on the Dawn Leaks report, what was settled between the Prime Minister and the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) on the issue and what were the contents of para 18 of the report. “PM and COAS both are answerable before the parliament,” he said adding that how both could settle the issue alone.

The Leader of the Opposition also pointed out that the interior minister should have been in the house to answer the queries of opposition instead of parliamentary affairs minister to wind up the debate. Later, the entire opposition walked out from the house over the absence of interior minister. The interior minister later came in the house after Sheikh Aftab wound up the debate and left without uttering a single word.

PTI Senator Noman Wazir Khattak demanded resignation of Chief of Army Staff (COAS) over the way the Dawn leak issue was settled.

Separately, taking part in the discussion on Panama Leaks and corruption, Senator Farhatullah Babar said the matter of institutional corruption should be done away with. He said that if the Parliament passed a law allowing extraordinary perks and privileges to its members such as free of cost plots and land it would be a case of institutional corruption.

He also opposed the grant of development funds to members of Parliament.

The chair remarked that the house had understood what Baber wanted to say — a reference to the plots and lands allotted to army officers.

Aitzaz Ahsan taking part in the debate on Panama leaks showed his fear that Joint Investigation Team (JIT) formed by the Supreme Court to probe off-shore wealth of Sharif family could do nothing as it was working under the authority of same executive. Panama case is being wrongly connected with the CPEC, he said.

He said that all five judges of the Supreme Court had said that the “narrative of Nawaz Sharif presented before the court was unauthentic.”

The difference of the judges was whether PM could be disqualified under 148 (3) or not. Sharif family could not present a single document before the court contrary to their claims that they would hold themselves accountable up to their three generations. He demanded that all records of the properties and the taxes paid by the Sharif family should be presented on the floor of the house.

When the house met after the break, the lawmakers taking part in the debate condemned the terrorist attack on Deputy Chairman Senate Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri in Mastung. The chair informed the house that director staff to the deputy chairman Iftikhar Mughal, a senior officer of Senate Secretariat, was also among the martyrs as a result of the attack.