The BackBencher: A culture of late lateefs

The real spotlight belonged to Pakistan Peoples Party’s Murad Ali Shah, who wore a flaming orange suit.

KARACHI:

A child kept blowing raspberries while sitting in the front row of the Governor’s gallery at the Sindh Assembly. It was a Monday, he was bored and the only thing that seemed to amuse him involved sticking his tongue out of his mouth and producing a noise similar to that created by flatulence.

At 10:45am most MPAs were missing. The speaker’s helpers were running around trying to get everything in order before the session started. Reporters were busy catching up on details about families, visas and recent extortion cases.

Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Memon walked in at 11:15am looking sharp in a dark suit and tie. After he settled in his seat, Memon noticed a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf MPA sitting in the last row of the opposition bench and asked him what maps he was drawing and what time he got there. The MPA laughed and said that he was catching up with work and unlike the rest, he had showed up at 10am on the dot.

Things became a little awkward as Memon mumbled something and turned away. For an assembly newbie, it might come as a surprise that the sessions don’t actually start on time. MPAs are fashionably late and Monday’s session was no exception.

As MPAs from the treasury benches kept piling in - women in twos and the men in suits, it looked like the session might actually start before noon and it did, right after the naat and fateha.

Sharmila Faruqi, who was representing the culture department in the question-answer session walked in wearing white, carrying a bunch of heavy folders and a little black handbag stuffed with papers.

If the wildlife minister had showed up for Monday’s session, he would have gotten off scot-free for neglecting the turtles as this time Faruqi and her department were under fire. But she had come prepared with the big guns — she had letters, excel sheets and what not.

Pakistan Muslim League-Functional’s Nusrat Seher Abbasi was really interested in why the culture department had only organised some 400 events in the last four years. Despite Faruqi’s reply and insistence to check the detailed answer in the session’s sheet, Abbasi was not satisfied. She wanted a reason, not a financial breakdown.

When an MPA asked about arts councils in the province, Faruqi explained that there were three in the province —one each in Karachi, Khairpur and Larkana, and were not run by the government or her department. She did, however, inform the house that they received provincial grants. PTI’s MPA asked how the government and department kept checks on how the money was being used. Faruqi explained that the arts councils  accounts were audited every year.

The questions started getting tougher when Abbasi, dressed in blue and high heels, asked Faruqi about Moen jo Daro and other heritage sites. Every MPA wanted to know why a certain site, landmark, building in their constituency was not listed as a heritage site or being taken care of as one.

This went on till 1pm, which is when with heavy protocol the chief minister of Sindh entered the assembly premises and the members got ready to pass some resolutions.

Spotted at the assembly

The leader of the opposition, Faisal Subzwari looked dapper in a brown kurta and tung pyjama accessorised with Kolha-puri chappals. Nasir Shah, the star of the last session, sat in his regular spot twirling his moustache. The real spotlight, however, belonged to Pakistan Peoples Party’s Murad Ali Shah, who wore a flaming orange suit.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 25^th, 2014.