Assembly chronicles: Active opposition keeps weary government in check

PTI pressure group’s refusal to side against the treasury takes steam out of present session.

PESHAWAR:

The opposition’s theatrics and manoeuvres in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly have been keeping the government on its toes, especially during the requisitioned March and April sessions.

Tick tock

The discipline maintained by opposition members regarding punctuality and decorum has embarrassed treasury lawmakers on more than one occasion. Often opposition MPAs would arrive before the scheduled time.

It was witnessed on two separate occasions that the treasury benches were completely empty at the scheduled start of a day’s sitting, prompting the opposition to force the speaker to kick start proceedings. Such confrontations never pleased the government lawmakers, who often seemed drained by the lengthy and at times redundant sessions.

On the offensive

“They (opposition members) called this session after noticing the government’s precarious position following the emergence of a pressure group inside the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI),” said a weary minister during an informal chat.

The minister, who wished to remain anonymous, argued when the opposition MPAs realised the government was not being toppled, they lost interest.

However, the same MPAs gave the government a tough time in this session which continued for almost a week before being postponed. The opposition submitted an 11-point agenda before the session. But discussion on the agenda was usually the last item for the day; by the time the debate would begin, most treasury lawmakers would have left the house.

This led to several complaints by the opposition who claimed the government was not serious about their agenda. Moreover, a certain female opposition lawmaker was seen gathering signatures to prepare a new requisition after the postponement of the present session.

Fizzling out

Much to the opposition’s dismay, PTI’s pressure group did not take their side in any tirade against the government.

Members of the pressure group made it clear on the floor of the house that in spite of differences with the party’s senior leadership, they would not side against their party and were united under PTI Chairman Imran Khan.

This effectively deflated the opposition’s plan of embarrassing the government in the present session.

Moreover, most of the points on the opposition’s agenda had already been discussed in detail in the previous session, which is why the opposition did not take a stand when Speaker Asad Qaiser adjourned the session till May 8.

A history of requisitions

The opposition has so far called four sessions during the assembly’s first parliamentary year.

A session was called following the twin suicide attacks on All Saints Church in Peshawar from September 30 to October 3, 2013. The second session was called after the assassination of provincial minister Sardar Israrullah Khan Gandapur in a suicide attack at his home in DI Khan from October 23-30.

The third session of the house was convened in March  this year to discuss an eight-point agenda of the opposition and the April session is presently under way.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 30^th, 2014.