PA adjournment termed ‘unconstitutional’

Lawmaker criticises govt over artists support fund

LAHORE:

The opposition on Monday termed as unconstitutional the adjournment of Punjab Assembly session till August 7 to meet the target of 100 days of proceedings during the year.

The house proceedings started after a delay of two hours and were presided over by Panel of Chairmen member Mian Shafi.

Some opposition’s lawmakers wanted to speak about the adjournment but their objection was ignored as the lawmakers started leaving the venue.

Later, talking to media, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) MPA Khalil Tahir Sindhu termed the conduct of Mian Shafi as unconstitutional. “It is sheer violation of the rules. The house proceeding cannot be adjourned for more than two days but in this case, there is a lot of gap,” Sindhu said.

He said adjourning house proceedings for more than two days was considered as proroguing the assembly.

Provincial Minister for Prosecution Chaudhry Zaheeruddin said the house has been adjourned in accordance with the rules. “Nothing has been done in violation of the rules and the Constitution,” he maintained.

He said the adjournment till the date was aimed at meeting the target of conducting assembly proceedings for 100 days in a year.

He said a few days are required to meet the target. There were questions on the agenda of the assembly relating to the information and culture department.

PML-N’s Sadia Taimur expressed her displeasure over the reply given by the parliamentary secretary concerned in response to her question about measures the government had taken for the welfare of artists. “Why the artists are protesting if the government, as per the claim of the parliament secretary, has allocated funds for them.”

After the completion of agenda items, the panel of chairmen member adjourned the session till August 7.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 28^th, 2020.