Punjab Assembly: Agitation over commission on new provinces dominates house business

Speaker unmoved by opposition’s noise; treasury, opposition leaders trade insults.

LAHORE:

The opposition uproar over nomination to the parliamentary comminsion on new provinces continued for the second day on Tuesday. The session started at 11:27am with a delay of one-and-a-half -hour and lasted for less than an hour.

Neglecting the shouting from the opposition benches, Speaker Rana Muhammad Iqbal Khan proceeded with the question hour. Today’s questions were about the Services and General Administration.

PPP’s Deputy Parliamentary Leader Shaukat Mehmood Basra sought to speak on a point of order but the Speaker snubbed him. At this Basra said that Tuesday was a private members’ day so other members should not try to dictate him. Saying this, he along with other opposition members then surrounded the Speaker’s dice and shouted at him. They also raised slogans against the government.

PPP’s Ehsanul Haq Naulatia tore a copy of the agenda of the house and threw it at the Speaker, while Basra, in the meantime, tried to snatch the Speaker’s mic, but was stopped by some treasury members. The pushing and shoving between the opposition and treasury members went on for some while. Desk thumping and yelling followed ending only when some opposition members pointed out the quorum. The session was then adjourned till Wednesday morning (today).

Follow up

After the session, Leader of Opposition Raja Riaz told the media that he had submitted an application to the Speaker’s chamber seeking the formation of a medical board to examine Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, who, he said, appeared to have contracted some mental disease.

He said unintelligent decisions by the chief minister were a matter of life and death, for example through management of public hospitals. He said Sharif suffered fits daily and had become incapable of making intelligent and reasonable decisions.

Riaz also said there was massive corruption in the development work in the Punjab.

PPP’s Parliamentary Leader Maj (retired) Zulfiqar Gondal said that the chief minister and his son, Hamza Shahbaz, had earned a poor reputation and should therefore be banned from visiting girls’ schools and college.

Responding to Riaz’s statement, Law Minister Rana Sanaullah said that it was actually Riaz who needed medical help.

He also said, “It is a matter of record that President Asif Ali Zardari has been a psychiatric patient.”

He said the PML-N supported the establishment of the South Punjab and Bahawalpur provinces.

The PML-N, he said, demanded formation of a national commission that brought together all the stakeholders. He said his party demanded equal representation of all political parties in the commission.

WITH ADDITIONAL INPUT FROM ONLINE. PRESS GALLERY ON PAGE 14

Published in The Express Tribune, August 29^th, 2012.