Opp bares teeth as assembly nears 100 days of business

Lawmakers welcome back suspended senior secretary cleared of charges.

LAHORE:

The eighth session of the Punjab Assembly’s first parliamentary year has been in session for 10 days and will conclude on May 28 to complete 100 days of business in the house.

The opposition, comprising Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid, Pakistan Muslim League-Zia, Jamaat-i-Islami, Pakistan Peoples Party, Pakistan National Muslim League, Bahawalpur National Awami Party and several independent candidates, notched up protests in and outside the house with a ferocity unprecedented in the parliamentary year. Although the opposition pales in terms of numbers in the house, 56 compared to 311 PML-N lawmakers in a house of 371, the PTI, PML-Q and PPP have vowed not to allow smooth proceedings, citing various issues including rigging allegations in the May 11 election.

The treasury silently observed the opposition’s protest in the house for three days, finally lashing out against them on Friday. They raised slogans against several of the opposition’s leaders and vociferously celebrated the victory of their candidate in the PP-136 by-polls.

Previously, an election tribunal had unseated PML-N’s MPA Col (retd) Shujat Khan over rigging allegations and the PTI had welcomed the decision as confirmation that the PML-N’s mandate was fake. On May 22, the PML-N again fielded Shujat Khan in the by-polls against PTI’s Wakeel Manj, who had been the runner up in May last year, and the result was almost exactly the same.

Using Shujat Khan’s victory as an example of baseless allegations by the PTI, members of the treasury held placards to disparage the PTI’s province-wide movement against the government.

Federal Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal said the PTI had used fraudulent means to tamper with ballots kept in bags in government buildings after the elections. He said even in Shujat Khan’s case, the PTI managed to tamper with at least 8,000 of his votes and claimed that the elections were rigged. He said the PTI’s mass movement would be its swansong.

Law Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan said the opposition’s protest in the house was an effort to drum up support for their Faisalabad rally planned for May 25.

He said the rigging allegations had lost traction with the masses and the PTI was grasping at straws to muster support. He said he hoped they would just return to their homes after the rally.

Secretary welcomed back

On March 28, Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif issued orders for the suspension of Senior Secretary Rai Mumtaz Hussain Babar for allegedly beating up a traffic warden. The PA speaker had asked Babar to go on a leave.

The opposition members lashed out at what they called undue intervention in assembly affairs by the chief minister. They said Sharif had overstepped his jurisdiction and also slammed the speaker for placing “the sovereignty and dignity of the house in the chief minister’s hands”.

The opposition said the chief minister’s order violated the Punjab Provincial Assembly Secretariat (Recruitment and Conditions of Service) Rules, 1986, which empowered the speaker to hire and fire assembly staff, members and security officials including the senior secretary.

Later, after permission from the chief minister’s office, the speaker restored Babar to the position as he was acquitted in an inquiry ordered by the chief minister. The opposition and treasury members welcomed Babar back, who due to his accommodating attitude, is quite popular among lawmakers.

Legislation

Seven bills and three resolutions were passed by the house and three ordinances introduced during the eighth session.

The denied the opposition a chance to raise three resolutions: one in support of Pakistan Army, the other to reform electoral rules, and one against Deputy Speaker Sardar Sher Ali Gorchnai.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 26^th, 2014.