Hamza urges Punjab Assembly to forget grudges

Opposition leader says he will quit politics if corruption of even a single penny is proven

LAHORE: Whereas the treasury and opposition kept defending their leadership and the initiatives they had taken for the nation, the Punjab Assembly speaker seemed to be defending the parliamentary secretary over his failure to reply to the opposition’s queries.

Opposition leader Hamza Shehbaz Sharif, speaking on a point of order in Thursday’s session, said that the nation needed to learn from its past mistakes to put the country on the track to progress.

“We will have to shun grudges if we want to move forward.” He acknowledged that the country was passing through its toughest phase since coming into existence. Expressing his gloom over the conduct of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Hamza said he had initially been accused of money laundering worth Rs85 billion.

He said the bureau later claimed the actual amount was Rs.33 billion and then reduced the same Rs180 million. On the floor of the house, Hamza said he would bid farewell to politics if corruption of even a single penny was proven against him.

He said several efforts were made in past to trap PML-N leaders and his family even faced imprisonment, but no one could prove any sort of corruption against them.

“Who will return the days my family and I have spent imprisoned over forged allegations? Who will return the life of that leader who was murdered in the past?” the opposition leader asked the house.

He said nobody was ready to invest in Pakistan as the country was passing through its worst economic crises. He pointed to the soaring dollar rate and plummeting stock market. The opposition  leader said Prime Minister Imran Khan was keen to send leaders behind bars instead of steering the nation out of this mess.

Shedding light over Khan’s initiative to form a commission to probe past debts, he said the PM should also form a body to look into the Peshawar Metro Projects and Malamjabbah corruption scandals.

Lashing out at the government, Hamza Shehbaz said the poor masses were being pushed into the net of skyrocketing prices after subsidies were lifted from most sectors.

Meanwhile, MPA Saeed Akbar Nawani, who was elected as an independent but was currently sitting on the treasury benches, spoke on a point of order. He strongly condemned the government, claiming the house was being turned into a joke as legislations passed by it were not implemented.

He said the assembly had passed a bill related to the increase in their salaries, but was not implemented yet which was regrettable for all.

Responding to Nawani’s observation, the provincial law minster Raja Basharat rejected the notion and said the bill was going through its due process and needed the governor’s signatures.

Over the production order of Hamza Shehbaz Sharif, minister Raja Basharat said Speaker Chaudhary Perevez Elahi, Prime Minister Imran Khan and the Chief minister Usman Buzdar deserve congratulations for this. He said their efforts bore fruit and the provincial government empowered the house by issuing production orders.

PPP MPAs, wearing black armbands, were seen present in the assembly chambers as a show of protest against the arrest of their leader and former president of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari. They strongly condemned the arrest by NAB.

House proceedings started on 4:35pm despite a scheduled time of 3pm. During the question-answer session, Parliamentary Secretary Tariq Abdullah gave answers to questions of lawmakers on the transport department. PS Abdullah failed to give proper replies, but the speaker seemed to defend him. He said Abdullah was only recently given responsibility of this department so all should encourage him if failed to submit proper answers.

As the house completed items on the agenda for the day, the speaker adjourned proceedings till Friday at  3pm.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 14^th, 2019.