Punjab Assembly: ‘Local polls within a month of delimitation’

House slams use of harmful pesticides on vegetation, seeks audit of private schools.

LAHORE:

The provincial government is extending full cooperation to the Election Commission of Pakistan on delimitation of constituencies for the local bodies’ election. It will hold the election within a month of the completion of delimitation by the ECP, Local Government and Community Development Parliamentary Secretary Ramazan Siddique Bhatti told the Punjab Assembly on Tuesday.

Bhatti was responding to Dr Waseem Akhtar’s query about progress on local election during a question and answer session on the first day of the 12th session. He assured the House that the government was sharing relevant data and constituency maps with the ECP.

The House managed to pass four resolutions on a day otherwise marred by disorder as opposition members kept pointing lack of quorum and later staged a token walkout against government’s alleged lack of seriousness in holding the proceedings.

The resolutions concerned use of harmful pesticides on vegetation, audit of private schools, the publishing of blasphemous cartoons by a French magazine and the death of Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah. A resolution seeking action against factories involved in production of spurious medicines was turned down.

The proceedings of the session that started with an hour’s delay were interrupted as an argument began between Deputy Speaker Sardar Sher Ali Gorchani, who was chairing the session, and Opposition member Ehsan Riaz Fatayna. Fatyana’s request to speak on a point of order had been turned down by the chair who wanted to first get done with the agenda items for the day. Fatyana then started pointing out the quorum and asked that the session be adjourned. “The House should operate in accordance with the rules”, he said in response to the chair’s request that he let the proceedings continue.

The opposition members staged a token walk out on Sardar Shahabud Din’s call to protest what they said was government’s lack of seriousness about the proceedings.

They were complaining that instead of taking action against the parliamentary secretary for legal affairs for misleading the House on the measures taken by the government on the Article 25-A of the Constitution, the chair had disposed of the matter.

Shaikh Alauddin had earlier raised reservations about the parliamentary secretary for legal affairs’ claim that the government was ensuring compliance with a constitutional provision requiring private schools to enroll children from poor households. Alauddin had rejected the claim as baseless.  The matter was referred to the chair who disposed it of without further action.Minister for Labour Raja Ashfaq Sarwar had also suggested that the secretary be pressed for an accurate response. Earlier, a four-member panel of chairmen comprising MPAs Qamarul Islam Raja, Mian Marghoob Ahmed, Raheela Khadim Hussain and Qazi Ahmed Saeed was also constituted for the session.

The House was told that under a new rule attendance of each member would be updated on a daily basis on the PA website.The session will continue on Wednesday morning.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 11^th, 2015.