LAHORE – The PPP shall advocate for the Siraiki province in its party manifesto, Punjab Assembly Opposition leader Raja Riaz announced on a point of order during the 23rd ongoing session of the Punjab Assembly on Monday. Continuing his speech he expressed full support for the demand raised by the people of Southern Punjab and vowed to fulfill the demand.
On another point of order, Raja Riaz drew the attention of the house on the episode of the concocted murder plot of former Chief Justice Lahore High Court Khawaja Mohammed Sharif.
He said the judicial probe into the matter had declared the Punjab Chief Minister;s working secretary Dr Tauqir Shah guilty of leaking official documents to media and declared him ‘unfit’ for serving sensitive posts. He shifted the blame of violating court order to the PML-N recalling the party’s infamous attack on the Supreme Court of Pakistan. Continuing against the PML-N, he said the Punjab government was targeting poor shop keepers at a time when the entire province was in the clutches of land mafia. At this moment, PPP and PML-Q members started chanting slogans demanding a demolition of the ‘Rana Plaza,’ hinting at Law Minister Rana Sanaullah’s plaza.
When Unification group member Waris Kalloo asked permission to speak on a point of order, opposition members particularly PML-Q women members started chanting slogans and forced him to cut his speech short.The situation in the House became tense when women legislators from both sides crossed comments over the Raymond Davis issue. PPP MPA Azma Zahid Bokhari was criticised by PML-N women members for blaming PML-N alone over Raymond Davis’s release while her own father had served as Davis’s lawyer during the trial. This resulted inan uproar over which PML-N women members staged a walkout.
In response, Azma termed it a ‘pre planned’ move against the PPP. The boycott was ended after sometime, but Azma stayed true to her guns and used harsh words for PML-N women legislators. The issue was settled on interference of the Punjab Assembly speaker who expunged the harsh words used members during the verbal scuffle.
