Debating the terms and regulations for the extension and
tension-free tenure for the upcoming army chief, the opposition has rejected
perks and privileges for the top army slot which includes a six-figure monthly
salary, red book protocol, and five-kilogram tomatoes a month till
retirement.
"Five kg tomatoes?" shouted Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on
the floor of the House amid chants of "No tamatar, no tamatar" by the
whole opposition. Some treasury members also joined the chorus "No
tamatar, no tamatar".
"We can accept an army chief with a life term but please
exclude the five-kilo tomato package from their pay scale," said a PML-N
leader. “Pakistan is a third world country which cannot tomato luxury.”
Finance Adviser Sheikh Hafeez, who drafted the extension bill for
the army chief said he had included tomatoes in the package because the army
chief deserved such a luxury package.
PML-Q leader and Punjab Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi
said if their party was given a chance, they would increase the tomato quota
for the army chief ten times and would elect them in uniform as president of
Pakistan nine times.
From
the treasury, Narcotics Minister Shehryar Afridi said that he was to surrender
his life to Allah but tomatoes were valueless in the face of the valuable services
of armed forces in curbing smuggling of tomatoes from Pakistan to Afghanistan.
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