Called off: Assembly session adjourned after 5 minutes

KARACHI:

In order to avoid rowdy scenes inside the provincial assembly, speaker Agha Siraj Durrani came early and adjourned the session for want of quorum.

There is an understanding between political parties that assembly sessions will take place even when attendance is low. However, that was not the case on Friday. "Usually members blame me for arriving late," said Durrani. "How can I start proceedings when only six members are present? "

The education minister, Nisar Ahmed Khuhro, gave his suggestions. "There are two options; either you can order to ring the bell [which informs all members that the session is about to begin] or you can adjourn the session."

Durrani decided on the latter, adjourning the session after the religious formalities. This was the first session in the current parliamentary year that started on the scheduled 10am time slot. In previous sessions, the members and even the speaker himself often arrived a couple of hours late. When the session started at 10am, only six Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) members were present, including Khuhro and Dr Mandhro.

The unexpected adjournment irked opposition members, who claimed that it was a strategy to sidestep the protest that the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) had planned against the disappearance of its workers. "The government cannot face criticism," claimed opposition leader Faisal Subzwari, while talking to the media outside the assembly. "The chief minister and his entire government have failed to protect our people, which is why the session has been adjourned."

Subzwari also announced that MQM members will continue to protest inside and outside the assembly till all their missing persons are recovered.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 19^th, 2014.