LAHORE – Opposition Leader in the Punjab Assembly Raja Riaz Wednesday termed any attempt to pave the way for a clash between the institutions as dangerous, saying the PML-N-led government in Punjab must realise that this mindset would always cause serious loss to the country.
He said the PML-N leadership whenever in power made efforts to create a conflict between the national institutions without understanding the consequences. Soon after the start of the Punjab Assembly’s session, the PPP-led opposition went for a token boycott against the sealing of NADRA offices.
In his speech, Riaz accused the Punjab the govt of violating merit openly and cited the example of Liaqat Durrani, brother of Tehmina Daultana, who has been appointed on contract against the salary of Rs 500,000. He claimed that 890 government officers were working on the posts for which they were not eligible. Riaz urged Speaker Rana Muhammad Iqbal to play his role for avoiding a clash between the institutions after which the opposition members raised slogan of ‘Mr Speaker! Take bold steps all opposition is with him” but Rana Iqbal ignored the call.
It may be mentioned that it was the first day during the ongoing session when the house ensured some business, seemingly because of a temporary settlement between the PPP and the PML-N, as the opposition provided some breathing space to the treasury for completing agenda. The proceedings started as usual a vocal opposition not allowing the chair and the treasury to carryout business smoothly.
Not even a single question could be taken during the Question Hour, but later the chair announced that the agenda would be completed on some other day. After an hour of rumpus and sloganeering, Law Minister Rana Sanaullah promised on the floor of the house that Punjab Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif would personally respond to the points raised by Raja Riaz.
He said that the chief minister had gone abroad because of his wife’s surgery, adding that the government had not issued directives to the DCOs for freezing funds for the development works in the opposition members’ constituencies. It calmed the environment after which the house referred 11 amendment bills to the relevant standing committees besides proposed changes in the rules of assembly business.
Earlier, the assembly witnessed worst chaos, as the opposition legislators gathered in front of the speaker’s desk to protest against switching off the opposition leader’s mike. The opposition and treasury legislators exchanged harsh words; however, physical clash was averted owning to prudence and intervention of senior parliamentarians.
The opposition staged one minute token walkout to protest against the move and cursed military dictator Ziaul Haq for his doings. The continuous grilling from the opposition caused restlessness among the Unification Bloc members as Nasim Lodhi accused Rana Sana of joining hands with the PPP, saying the law minister could not get desirable response from the opposition.
On a point of order, PPP MPA Nargis Faiz Malik demanded apology from Unification Bloc member Ejaz Shafi for passing indecent remarks against opposition a couple of days back. But Speaker Rana Iqbal said how it could happen when he (Ejaz Shafi) was not present in the house. On a point of order Raja Riaz said that Sharif brothers were continuing the policy of creating rifts among the federal and provincial institutions, saying police had sealed the NADRA offices in Lahore and Rawalpindi besides arresting the employees.
