Punjab Assembly: Coalition partners argue over democracy credit

Raja Riaz says PPP deserves credit for successes of Punjab government.

LAHORE: The senior representatives of the Pakistan Peoples Party and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz in the Punjab Assembly debated which party had done more for democracy in the country on Tuesday.

Senior Minister Raja Riaz of the PPP defended his party against charges that they had acted undemocratically when one of its members, Shaharyar Ali, pointed out the lack of quorum at Monday’s sitting, thus preventing a general debate on the petroleum price hike.

Riaz said that suggestions by some members that the PPP had hurt institutions by its actions were absurd, since the party had done so much to bring democracy back to Pakistan. “We try to strengthen institutions. Just check our record,” he said.

He said that Benazir Bhutto’s bravery and sacrifice had allowed “exiled politicians” to return home. And the party had served as a reliable partner in the Punjab government, giving Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif a “free hand” to carry out his policies.

“Today there are no political prisoners in the country, thanks to the PPP. The party also deserves credit for the fact that the situation hasn’t become a Changa Manga,” he said, referring to the infamous horse-trading that went on in 1990 following a no-confidence move against then prime minister Benazir Bhutto’s government.

Law Minister Rana Sanaullah had the last word on the issue. He said there was no doubt that Bhutto was a popular politician who fought for democracy and whose death had saddened every Pakistani. But he reminded the house of times when the PPP’s actions had not been in the interest of democracy.

“Remember Governor Raj?” he said, referring to the imposition of governor’s rule in Punjab last year.

He said after the MQM and JUI-Fazl quit the ruling coalition in Islamabad, “If there is no Changa Manga today that is all because of Mian Nawaz Sharif. He is the reason you no longer need Diesel permits to defend majorities in the parliament, and Rehman Malik does not need to visit London so often.”

Earlier on Tuesday, members of the opposition and treasury benches railed against the events the night before, denouncing the PPP MPA’s move as a violation of parliamentary tradition. All sides of the house were given leeway to talk about the petroleum price hike in a series of points of order, but there was no general debate and the opposition’s plea for an out-of-turn resolution on the matter went unheeded.

Proceedings began at around 11:45 am, some 105 minutes late, with Dr Tahir Ali Javed of the PML-Q rising to speak on a point of order, as he did the day before. He said the PPP had exploited the quorum condition to scupper the price-hike debate. “You can’t close your eyes and hope it goes away. You can’t hide from your own notifications,” he said, clutching OGRA documents in his hand.

Mohsin Leghari of the PML-Q urged the speaker to take up his resolution on the petroleum price hike out of turn, as a resolution would formally represent the opinion of the assembly and would thus carry more weight as a message to the Centre that the people of Punjab were against the price hike.

Sanaullah said that it had been agreed that out-of-turn resolutions could only be introduced with the consent of Opposition Leader Chaudhry Zaheeruddin, Senior Minister Riaz, and himself. “I and the opposition leader have no objection. You’ll have to ask the senior minister,” he said.

Speaker Rana Iqbal Khan said he too was disappointed that the important debate could not take place the day before, but he blamed the poor attendance rather than the PPP. He said that it was up to the parliamentary party leaders to ensure that their members attended sessions, in which case there would be no lack of quorum.

Sanaullah said that lack of quorum is not traditionally pointed out during general discussions.

Malik Waris Kalo of the PML-N said the PPP move was typical of how Pakistani legislators abused the parliamentary system inherited from the British.

“Every day we see examples of this in the national and provincial assemblies. Yesterday was the latest example,” he said. “This petrol bomb is such an important issue for the public, but one party foiled the debate through a conspiracy.”

Mian Rafiq, also of the PML-N, said it was wrong to talk about parliamentary tradition when Pakistan didn’t have enough experience of democracy to come up with useful traditions. He suggested that the quorum requirement be done away with. The speaker pointed out that this would require an amendment to the Constitution.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 5^th, 2011.