The first day of the new Sindh Assembly session started on a negative note on Tuesday. There were emotional outbursts, staged walkouts but absolutely no legislation - even though it was private members’ day.
The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Functional (PML-F) lawmakers had a heated argument after the speaker did not allow PML-F MPA Marvi Rashdi to move a resolution in favour of permanent jobs for lady heath workers.
Rashdi asked Speaker Nisar Khuhro for permission to table the resolution. He assured her that it would be taken up after the question-and-answer session. But after that ended, her request was turned down again, leading to an uproar in the house.
Opposition leader Jam Madad Ali pitched in by repeatedly requesting the speaker and law minister to consider the resolution. Law Minister Ayaz Soomro backed him, but added that many female PPP MPAs wanted to take up the issue. To this, Shazia Marri said they had already asked the federal government so there is no need for a resolution. “We should wait for the government’s reply,” she suggested.
On hearing this, the law minister took a U-turn and refused to take up the resolution as well. Rashdi and other members insisted that the issue was in public interest. But all the women lawmakers of the PPP - who were even signatories to the resolution - shouted, “No, no, we can bring it later on.”
That is when members of both parties rolled up their sleeves.
The Speaker could only bring order to the house by adjourning it. At this announcement Marvi Rashdi threw her papers at the treasury desk and exclaimed, “You talk about democracy, but you have no democratic approach”. The PPP’s Farheen Mughal reciprocated the gesture. Before things got out of hand, members of both parties intervened.
After the session, Jam Madad told the media that the PPP opposed the resolution because they did not want to give credit to another party for resolving the issue.
ZAB’s case
The house unanimously passed a resolution to pay tribute to President Asif Ali Zardari for initiating the reference for the Supreme Court to reopen the case of PPP founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, in which he was sentenced to death. The resolution was moved by PPP MPA Nawab Taimur Talpur.
Desecration of the Holy Quran in Florida
The assembly unanimously adopted a resolution to condemn the desecration of a copy of the Holy Quran by Terry Jones, a pastor of a Florida church, and his colleague Pastor Wayne.
The joint resolution was moved by PPP’s Saleem Khurshid Khokhar, Pitanber Sewani, Shazia Marri, Murad Ali Shah and Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s Rasheed Khan, Naheed Begum and Moqueem Alam.
The joint opposition walked out of the session because the session, that was supposed to start at 10 am, started a little after 11:30 am, delayed by the PPP parliamentary party.
Talking to the media, opposition leader Jam Madad said millions of rupees were spent on assembly sessions, but PPP lawmakers were not interested in legislation. “We had been waiting for about one and a half hour, but these people are busy in their meeting.”
He said that it was private members’ day and they had felt that important legislation would be made in the house. “We will not keep quiet on the assembly floor and will point out the lack of quorum,” he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 30th, 2011.
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