Balochistan Assembly session adjourned due to lack of quorum

17 MPAs of the ruling coalition out of the total 42 found absent: opposition MPA

QUETTA: Deputy Speaker Babar Musakhail on Saturday adjourned the Balochistan Assembly session till Tuesday owing to lack of quorum.

The session commenced with a delay of about two-and-a-half hours. Then Balochistan National Party MPA Shakeela Naveed Dehwar pointed out the lack of quorum. The deputy speaker rang the assembly bells, calling the legislators to take their seats. After waiting for 30 minutes, he adjourned the proceedings till April 30.

Nasarullah Zerey of the Pakhtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) said that out of 42 members of the parties belonging to the ruling coalition, 17 were not present in the house in the session.

Opposition Leader in the Balochistan Assembly Malik Sikandar lashed out at the federal and the provincial governments, saying both were not interested in solving problems of the people.

He urged the members of the ruling parties to show seriousness to the provincial affairs.

Criticising the provincial government over its non-seriousness, the opposition parties said that Balochistan was facing a myriad of problems but the government was not willing to discuss public issues in the assembly.

Leaders of the BNP, PkMAP and the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam addressed the press conference.

“The assembly is not being run according to democratic rules and the provincial government is not showing sincerity to the opposition’s grievances,” leaders of the opposition parties said.

Malik Naseer Shahwani of BNP said it seemed like the next fiscal year would also be like the previous one. He feared that the provincial budget would lapse this year also. He said that nothing could be seen on the ground but the ministers were making tall claims.