Parallel assembly sessions scheduled

Speaker’s move to put bill on agenda aggravates constitutional crisis

LAHORE:

After both the treasury and opposition members holding parallel Punjab Assembly Sessions at different places, another constitutional crisis emerged after Speaker Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi made a bill part of the house agenda while the annual budget is being debated by the ruling coalition’s lawmakers.

It was learnt that the Punjab Assembly Secretariat on Monday issued its agenda for the session scheduled for Tuesday, making ‘The Punjab Free and Compulsory Education (Amendment) Bill 2020’ a part of it.

The opposition’s assembly session will be held at 1pm in the Punjab Assembly building and the treasury’s session at 2pm at Aiwn-e-Iqbal.

Both sides are accusing each other of holding illegal assembly sessions. The opposition believes a session may only be held in Punjab Assembly. Any legislation passed in the building will be considered valid.

The treasury members rely on Section 109 of the Constitution, saying the governor may summon a session at any place he deems fit.

Meanwhile, most PML-N lawmakers complained during their budget discussion that the people of their constituencies had been deprived of rights by the previous government.

Azma Zahid Bukhari pointed out that no relevant official was present in the official gallery.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 21^st, 2022.