PHOTO: ONLINE
A PML-N lawmaker, after the question-answer session ended, pointed to the quorum. However, deputy speaker Sardar Dost Muhammad Mazari allowed proceedings to continue. This was despite the Rules of Procedure of the Provincial Assembly of Punjab stating that the chair will order the ringing of bells for five minutes after a lack of quorum is pointed out. If the required quorum is not complete, the chair will adjourn the house for at least 15 minutes.
However, none of these rules were followed. When the lack of quorum was pointed out for a second time, Mazari adjourned the House till Friday morning rather than following the correct procedure.
During the proceedings, MPAs were busy chatting with each other and Mazari seemed helpless in keeping the house in order. A PTI legislator finally requested Mazari to take control of matters and the latter ordered MPAs to maintain discipline.
In the question-answer session, the opposition grilled the treasury benches over the allegedly misleading answers of Minister for Zakat and Ushr Shaukat Ali Laleka and Higher Education Parliamentary Secretary Muhammad Sibtain Khan. The MPAs termed their conduct irresponsible and said it was a reflection of the government's lack of seriousness.
PML-N's lawmaker Arshad Malik challenged an answer of the parliamentary secretary with regards to buses being provided for the Girls Degree College and Boys College in the Kameer area of Sahiwal.
The MPA asserted that the answers provided by the secretary were incorrect and he was willing to hang till death if his claims were proven false.
However, the next moment, he also sought suggestions from Mazari on the punishment for Sibtain if the minister’s answer was found incorrect.
The deputy speaker suspended the question and sought detailed information of Malik's question. The PML-N MPA had asked how many buses had been allocated for the colleges in question. Sibtain responded that buses had been given to these colleges.
His statements to some other questions about the passing marks set for students also left MPAs astonished. He was unable to answer the question and said this was a matter of policy for the government to decide. The other lawmakers present mocked Sibtain and asked if he was not part of the government as a parliamentary secretary.
Former minister and PML leader Malik Nadeem Kamran strongly condemned the spread of misinformation on the unfair distribution of zakat and the step to dissolve 585 distribution committees in Sahiwal. Malik said no legal procedure was adopted and the committees were only dissolved with an order from the minister. Kamran stated that this was a sheer violation of the rules.
Laleka responded to Nadeem and said no zakat was distributed in Sahiwal for the last five years. He said 44,000 zakat committees were to be formed, but no efforts to distribute the allocated amounts were made by the previous government.
He said Rs50,000,000 to Rs60,000,000 were to be distributed in Sahiwal, but not even a single penny reached the intended target. The minister challenged Nadeem to resign if the claims were proven correct. Likewise, Laleka vowed to step down if his claims were incorrect.
Nadeem accepted the challenge and corrected the minister by pointing out that PML-N had formed 23,000 zakat committees out of a total 24,500. He suggested the house fix a day for this debate so that they could get to the bottom of these allegations.
Later, a resolution, presented by Pakistan Rah-e-Haq party leader Muhammad Moavia, was unanimously passed in the house.
The resolution demanded that the federal government ensure that religious scholars are invited to Ramazan transmissions on television instead of celebrities who knew nothing about Islam.
Meanwhile, provincial law minister Raja Basharat ensured security for polio workers. He said these health workers were undoubtedly perturbed by violent incidents which targeted their peers in different areas.
He provided this assurance to the house after PML-N lawmaker Hina Pervez Butt raised questions over the steps taken by the government to ensure the security of polio workers. Hina and Khawja Salman Rafique expressed their gloom over the increasing number of polio cases in Punjab.
Deputy Speaker Mazari seconded the stance of the opposition. Basharat said Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid was not present in house and the relevant information would be provided in due course. Mazari adjourned the House till 9am on Friday.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 3rd, 2019.
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