Some opposition legislators suggest ending boycott
Others adamant on continuing protest against speaker’s comments
A file photo of Punjab Assembly in session. PHOTO: ONLINE
LAHORE:
With the law minister expected to meet the protesting opposition lawmakers today to convince them to join the Punjab Assembly session, cracks have started appearing within the ranks of the opposition benches.
While some lawmakers are in favour of ending the boycott of the legislative assembly and participating in the pre-budget debate, others have called for changing the demand of a written apology from Speaker Rana Muhammad Iqbal Khan into a simple acknowledgement.
In a recent meeting of the opposition legislators chaired by Opposition Leader in Punjab Assembly Mehmoodur Rasheed, some lawmakers said they should sit in Punjab Assembly and be the part of the pre-budget debate likely to start on Monday.
They believed demanding a written apology from the custodian of the house was a bit awkward and it would suffice if the speaker admitted to his mistake of misbehaving with PTI legislator Mian Muhammad Aslam Iqbal and promises to desist from repeating such comments.
However, most legislators remained adamant not to sit inside the Punjab Assembly until the speaker admits to his mistake as well as fixes the responsibility on someone for misleading the house by calling the quorum complete.
Last week, MPA Aslam was told to ‘shut up’ by Speaker Iqbal when he was protesting in the assembly against the latter’s alleged partial attitude for not accommodating his question in the agenda. Meanwhile, PTI legislator Muhammad Arif Abbasi claimed the quorum was incomplete but the speaker counted the legislators and ruled it was complete. Abbasi persisted with his claim, alleging the house was mislead and its proceeding were illegal owing to the lack of required number of legislators.
The speaker’s comments led to chaos and the opposition boycotted the session, conducting its own ‘mini-session’ on the assembly stairs.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 13th, 2017.
With the law minister expected to meet the protesting opposition lawmakers today to convince them to join the Punjab Assembly session, cracks have started appearing within the ranks of the opposition benches.
While some lawmakers are in favour of ending the boycott of the legislative assembly and participating in the pre-budget debate, others have called for changing the demand of a written apology from Speaker Rana Muhammad Iqbal Khan into a simple acknowledgement.
In a recent meeting of the opposition legislators chaired by Opposition Leader in Punjab Assembly Mehmoodur Rasheed, some lawmakers said they should sit in Punjab Assembly and be the part of the pre-budget debate likely to start on Monday.
They believed demanding a written apology from the custodian of the house was a bit awkward and it would suffice if the speaker admitted to his mistake of misbehaving with PTI legislator Mian Muhammad Aslam Iqbal and promises to desist from repeating such comments.
However, most legislators remained adamant not to sit inside the Punjab Assembly until the speaker admits to his mistake as well as fixes the responsibility on someone for misleading the house by calling the quorum complete.
Last week, MPA Aslam was told to ‘shut up’ by Speaker Iqbal when he was protesting in the assembly against the latter’s alleged partial attitude for not accommodating his question in the agenda. Meanwhile, PTI legislator Muhammad Arif Abbasi claimed the quorum was incomplete but the speaker counted the legislators and ruled it was complete. Abbasi persisted with his claim, alleging the house was mislead and its proceeding were illegal owing to the lack of required number of legislators.
The speaker’s comments led to chaos and the opposition boycotted the session, conducting its own ‘mini-session’ on the assembly stairs.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 13th, 2017.