PHOTO: EXPRESS
LAHORE: The Punjab Assembly has been grabbing headlines again, but for the same old reasons as the treasury and opposition, as usual, appeared to be locked in combat.
However, the PTI government showed its prowess by successfully going about its business in the house despite much ruckus being created by the opposition. PML-N lawmakers, in their role as opposition, believed they were being cornered over different issues.
Clashes between the opposition and treasury have been commonplace in the PA, but instead of MPAs verbally squabbling with each other, the focus of the opposition was towards the chair of the house over the last week. In the latest altercation, a fiery exchange of words between deputy speaker Sardar Dost Muhammad Mazari and PML-N lawmakers resulted in three MPAs from the opposition being suspended for the remainder of the current session.
Friday’s session was an eventful one and observers missed the presence of PA Speaker Chaudhary Pervez Elahi. Meanwhile, his second-in-command was taking no prisoners when he suspended the three MPAs. Observers believe that Elahi, being a seasoned and experienced politician, has the ability to tackle such matters more effectively and get things back on track.
Elahi has also been known to crack the whip on lawmakers, but it is usually for the right reasons, such as lack of order in the house. He is especially hard on ministers who show up to the house without being prepared to answer the queries of legislators during question-hour.
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The battle between the deputy speaker and PML-N MPAs took a turn for the worst when Mazari suspended Muhammad Ashraf Rasool, Azma Zahid Bukhari and Mian Abdul Rauf for using derogatory language against the chair.
The use of such language is questionable at the best of times, but left many asking why the opposition MPAs issued such remarks in the first place. The exchange started when the deputy speaker asked Azma to sit down, saying she had a tendency to “stand up for everything”.
Analysts were of the opinion that the deputy speaker should avoid such comments, especially when dealing with female members of the house. At the same time, the comments of MPA Ashraf Rasool seemed harsh to other observers who said his tone could not be accepted under any circumstances.
Meanwhile, the treasury seemed to have its way when it came to government business. The treasury faced a strong opposition reaction over certain developments as PML-N felt it was being cornered by the government. The opposition reiterated that the treasury was paying no attention to any of its suggestions.
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The most significant development of the week occurred when provincial law minister Raja Basharat introduced the Punjab Local Government Bill 2019 as well as the Punjab Village Panchayats and Neighborhood Councils Bill 2019.
The opposition protested strongly and asked the reason for the bill being passed in haste by the treasury. The government dismissed the opposition’s notion that opposition’s opinions and suggested amendments were not being accommodated.
It said that members of the opposition were part of the standing committee and should have raised objections at the right time. The PML-N claimed that no voting process was adopted on each section of the bills during standing committee meetings.
Despite the fact that Raja Basharat remained adamant to defend the treasury’s stance, PML-N demanded that the deputy speaker, who was presiding over the house at the time, call the meeting minutes to unearth the real picture.
Later, the treasury also managed to amend the Rules of Procedure of the Punjab Assembly to form the third public accounts committee mentioned above.
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Previous governments had not made any amendments to these since 2003. Under the latest amendment, the PAC-III would be formed to exclusively deal with the audit objections of the local government.
Speaker’s Chaudhary Pervez Elahi’s order to Raja Basharat to form a committee that would come up with proposals on methods to weed out the menace teenage drug use was widely appreciated.
However, some critics suggested that the matter should not be limited to educational institutes and expand to footpaths, roads and parks as well.
Meanwhile, the speaker’s orders to enact a law to rein in the Punjab Food Authority when it comes to imposing fines were not met as warmly.
Certain quarters suggested that if the authority was imposing fines of up Rs1,000,000, the punishment probably fits the crime. They said that if there was a leniency in terms of fine imposition, accused parties would openly commit offences as the punishment would be limited to a slap on the wrist.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 28th, 2019.
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