Ministry's no-show vexes NA speaker

On Friday, National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq expressed extreme displeasure at the absence of senior officers from the Ministry of Petroleum.

The ministry officials were expected to respond to a calling attention notice. However, the absence of any senior officer in the house irked the chair, who warned that if the ministry’s joint secretary failed to appear, then he would summon its secretary and additional secretary.

When the joint secretary of the ministry finally arrived in the house, Speaker Sadiq welcomed him in a sarcastic manner. "You're very kind to come. Next time, we'll shower flowers on you."

He said, "Parliament should not be taken lightly. Lower-ranking officers from the ministry are not accepted here. In the future, secretaries will be summoned if ministers fail to attend, and written responses will be sought from their ministries."

Speaking on the house floor, Leader of Opposition Omar Ayub likened Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler and Minister for Interior Mohsin Naqvi to Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini.

He alleged that Punjab's inspector general of police is corrupt, and Punjab's police stations are “being sold” for Rs2 million to Rs2.5 million. Ayub noted that Punjab police were deployed to crack down on opposition parties while dacoits were having a field day.

He demanded the removal of members of parliament and provincial assemblies from the Provisional National Identification List (PNIL) and the Exit Control List (ECL) lists.

In response, the speaker invited a PTI delegation to his chamber to discuss the issue. He assured them that he would resolve the matter by discussing it with the interior minister.

Minister for Transport Abdul Aleem Khan responded to PPP’s Nafisa Shah's calling-attention notice about the destruction caused by floods on national highways.

He stated that the Sukkur-Hyderabad Motorway topped his priorities. Construction work on this highway will commence soon. Work on the tunnel on the main highway for Babusar Top will be expedited. The National Assembly session was adjourned until Monday afternoon.