Absence of MPAs brings legislation to a halt, again

LAHORE: The treasury and opposition benches presented two resolutions in Friday’s Punjab Assembly session. The treasury moved one to condemn the opposition’s role in fueling Indian propaganda, while MPAs from the other side of the aisle wanted suspected Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav case to be effectively presented before the International Court of Justice.

However, as is the order of the day every so often in the house, there was a lack of quorum and none of the resolutions could be passed. The session was adjourned till 2pm on Monday.



Opposition benches demanded that the federal government successfully fight Kulbashan’s case in an effective manner before the International Court of Justice. Opposition Leader Mian Mehmoodur Rasheed, while presenting his resolution to the house, said the temporary stay over the suspect spy’s execution resulted from the failure of Pakistan on a diplomatic level. “It is the government’s negligence to admit the court’s jurisdiction which is tantamount to intervening in internal matters.

Law Minister Rana Sanaullah, in his resolution, said the opposition was becoming part of Indian propaganda and the assembly strongly condemned such a move. He said the temporary stay over Kulbashan execution was of an advisory nature and no decision had been made, thus far, by the ICJ.

The lack of quorum also got in the way of other legislation. The treasury benches planned on getting four ordinances passed, three of which were related to medical universities of Rawalpindi, Faisalabad and Nishtar. The fourth was related to the Police Order (Amendment) 2017.



The objective of the first three ordinances was to upgrade Rawalpindi, Faisalabad and Nishtar Medical Colleges to the status of universities so they could impart better education, encouraging extensive research, hold examinations and award medical degrees.

The session started late on Friday and questions related to higher education were part of the agenda. Talking to the press after the session, Punjab Rana Sanaullah said it was yet to be determined whether the case of Kulbhashan Yadav’s fell into the ICJ’s jursdiction.

Meanwhile, opposition leader Mian Mehmoodur Rasheed said terrorism could not be eliminated if Pakistan started taking orders from the International Court of Justice. He demanded that Kulbashan’s death sentence be carried through.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 20^th, 2017.