Punjab Assembly speaker comes under attack for being ‘partial’

Elahi’s statement about ‘dancing in the house’ met with angry reaction

LAHORE: In the first session of the Punjab Assembly since the formation of the PTI government, MPAs of the treasury and opposition benches remained at loggerheads over whether Speaker Chaudhary Pervez Elahi was conducting matters in an impartial manner. Proceedings took a heated turn when the speaker turned to the opposition and “I have tolerated enough of a dance here.”

PML-N lawmaker Azma Zahid Bukhari, on a point of order, expressed her reservations over the speaker’s statements outside the house. To this, Elahi ordered that her microphone be switched off, adding this was not the place or time for such statements.

At one stage, Bukhari and Elahi clarified to each other that they would not let proceedings continue if there was no change in conduct from the other. Punjab Minister for Law Raja Busharat stated that all matters had been settled in an advisory committee meeting before house proceedings. He said the speaker’s statements outside the PA could not be discussed on the floor of the assembly.

Punjab Minister for Information Fayyazul Hassan Chohan made it clear to the opposition that the government would not allow anyone to malign a speaker who had been elected with majority votes. He quipped by saying that workshops should be conducted to teach PML-N on “how to behave and respect others”.

The atmosphere became heated when the speaker was responding to PML-N’s Samiullah Khan who asked that the former be tolerant in his conducting of proceedings. Elahi replied by saying that he had tolerated situations when dances were performed in the house. This enraged the opposition benches which stood up and protested against the conduct of the speaker for using inappropriate words. Samiullah sarcastically thanked the speaker, saying he inadvertently pointed to PTI which “everyone knows is the dance party”.

Opposition leader Hamza Shehbaz Sharif expressed his dismay over the comment passed by the speaker. He assured that the opposition would cooperate with the treasury on the condition that appropriate language was used in the house. Meanwhile, the treasury expressed their reservation over not being taken into confidence by opposition legislators while presenting a resolution which paid tribute to the late Kulsoom Nawaz for rendering her services to the survival of democracy.

Former Speaker Rana Muhammad Iqbal Khan read the resolution, accepting Kulsoom’s services and bestowing the title of “Maadray-Millat”. They also expressed their solidarity with ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif in his time of sorrow.

Law minister Raja Busharat said had the opposition taken them into confidence, a joint resolution could have been presented in the house as they also had great respect for Kulsoom Nawaz. He reiterated that the opposition failed to inform them about the move.

During the question-answer session, the treasury and opposition legislators accused each other of being responsible for the poor condition of different departments. Opposition MPAs were not satisfied over the replies of the ministers, while the latter claimed they were here to answer for their performance of just a few days. The ministers asked why PML-N did not take steps to improve the conditions of specialized health care and medical education, primary and secondary health care, industry, commerce and investment, local government and community development departments when it was ruling the country. The PTI leaders asked that PML-N refrain from putting the onus of past failures on their party’s shoulders.

During a discussion on law and order, Raja Busharat admired the Safe Cities project. He added that the government would extend this initiative to divisional headquarters as it was helping maintain law and order.

Opposition Leader Hamza Shehbaz Sharif, talking about local government, said PML-N would knock on the court’s doors and show complete resistance if the present system was removed. He said 18,000 representatives of local bodies had been elected by the people for five years. He said if the government pointed out loopholes in the system, these could be debated over and addressed, if necessary.

Mian Jalil Ahmed Sharaq Puri, Uzma Zaeem Qadri, Nafisa Ameen of PML-N took oath as MPAs as did PTI’s Sardar Awais Dreshak. Later, the Speaker prorogued the session for an indefinite period.