ISLAMABAD: National Assembly Deputy Speaker Faisal Karim Kundi on Thursday belied the myth that the speaker was impartial, as he became a party against the opposition by again stopping it from moving a resolution to reject spiraling prices of the petroleum products as well as other commodities.
As opposition parties protested with bench-thumping and sloganeering against what they called anti-people policies of the government, the deputy speaker ignored their protest and hurriedly completed legislative business. The opposition was also stopped from moving the same resolution on Wednesday.
Opposition parties demanded the deputy speaker take sense of the House and if a majority wanted the resolution to be tabled, he should let it be. However, the deputy speaker did not pay any heed to the opposition’s demand and abruptly adjourned proceedings for Friday (today).
Earlier, the National Assembly passed the Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2010 amid an uproar by the opposition over not being allowed to move the resolution against price hike. The House remained calm during the question hour and the opposition made no noise when the PML-N’s calling attention notice on the shortage of PhD teachers was being responded to by the state minister for education, Ghulam Farid Kathia.
As the deputy speaker moved to item number eight on the agenda of the day regarding the debate on the adjournment motion on price hike, PML-N MNA Pervaiz Malik sought the chair’s permission to move the resolution. But NA Deputy Speaker Kundi said the resolution could only be moved through rules and procedures.
Syed Khurshid Shah said the opposition was just creating trouble in the House. “When here a debate is scheduled on the price hike issue, then why don’t they argue over it. The opposition should move a resolution by following proper procedures,” he said.
As the opposition was not ready to discuss the price hike issue, the deputy speaker asked Minister of State for Finance Hina Rabbani Khar to table the statement of accounts of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan. Upon this, enraged MNAs of the PML-N and the PML-Q started chanting slogans against the government, but their uproar did not stop Kundi from taking legislative business and he asked Syed Khurshid Shah to move the Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2010, which was passed within two minutes amid the hue and cry.
The bill seeks to penalise those involved in the business and dealing of fake prize bonds.
