Welcoming an awami leader from an aristocratic family

KARACHI: "He's here, he's here," MPAs and reporters were whispering among themselves as Yousuf Raza Gillani walked through a throng of security personnel and made his way to the first floor of the Sindh Assembly on Tuesday.

The former premier may have lost his office unceremoniously but his arrival in the provincial assembly was a ceremony in itself. He was on his way back from a court, where he got bail in 12 corruption cases and decided to stop and check out the assembly session. Since attending assembly sessions was something the former premier was quite fond of during his time in power, he was invited to attend and say hello to the MPAs.

He sat in the first row of the Governor's Gallery next to his lawyer and party member Farooq Naek. One by one MPAs raised their hands in hopes the speaker, Agha Siraj Durrani, would let them pay long and glowing tribute to the former prime minister.

It was surprising to see the man get so much love. His hand was placed on his chest to show gratitude as people he had worked with or is still working with got up to show their love and respect.

Nisar Khuhro, who was speaker of the Sindh Assembly when Gillani was in government, was the first to have the floor. He sang praises about what a gentle and graceful soul the former prime minister was and how he had helped steer the country to a safer, more prosperous direction. Next in line was Sharmila Farooqui, who claimed that the PPP was being targeted and its leaders were getting embroiled in fake cases. She was happy Gillani was there but there were clearly other matters she wished to discuss. The leader of the opposition, Shaharyar Mahar, also stood up to welcome the former PM. Dr Lal Chand thanked Gillani for taking care of the minorities and womens issue as if part of his own constituency. MQM's Rauf Siddiqui even recited a couplet for the former PM.

The former prime minister looked surprised that he was so well liked by his party and others. And then, just when it looked like no one would call the PPP out on alleged corruption, mismanagement and general drama, PTI's Hafeezuddin Advocate raised his hand. After welcoming Gillani, Hafeezuddin made a small request. He asked the former PM to  ask the PPP's Sindh chapter to clean up their act and take a lesson from his book. This led the PPP MPAs, mostly the women and men sitting in the front row to make a lot of noise.

Durrani, who usually enjoys such spectacles decided to call the assembly to order and continue with the meet and greet.

MQM's Bilqees Mukhtar said that when Gillani was PM, it felt like he was everyone's PM. The MPA clearly forgot how many times her party members had joined, left and walked out of the government and assembly sessions over petty issues.

MPA Jamiluz Zaman said that he was glad the former PM had gotten bail because the party had a history of members getting booked in fake cases. He said that an MPA had once gotten stuck in a fake case for stealing goats. The CM who decided to make an appearance at 12:45pm, said that the former PM was an awami leader from an aristocratic family.

Around 1pm, Durrani decided that enough people had spoken and it was time to do what they were there for - to discuss the budget.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 18^th, 2014.