LAHORE – Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif seems to have burnt his fingers after revisiting the issue of Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) contractor Raymond Davis’ release upon his return from London as the opposition in the Punjab Assembly grilled him on Tuesday for saying he was not involved in Davis’ release.
PPP deputy parliamentary leader Shaukat Basra said that the opposition accepted the CM’s challenge to prove his involvement in the CIA spy’s release. The house echoed with the opposition’s anti-treasury slogans as Speaker Rana Muhammad Iqbal repeatedly tried and failed to bring some semblance of order to the house. Proceedings began with questions relating to commerce and investment, which was almost immediately interrupted when the speaker denied the PPP’s Shaukat Basra a point of order, which drew protests and a boycott from the opposition.
Opposition members also pointed out that the quorum was incomplete, so the speaker asked for bells to be rung for five minutes and treasury members rushed to the house to complete the quorum.During the question hour, opposition MPAs’ questions put Parliamentary Secretary Rana Tajammul in a tight spot as he failed to answer questions satisfactorily.
Opposition members grilled the provincial government over the constitutional status of the coordinators in union councils as well. A question about alleged embezzlement of hundreds of thousands of rupees by postal staff in Faisalabad in the name of the Food Stamps Scheme gave a tough time to the treasury as the parliamentary secretary claimed that only Rs 31,000 was embezzled and had been recovered, a claim that the mover Nighat Nasir Sheikh kept denying as false.
Tajammal failed to reply to supplementary questions and insisted that fresh ones be asked, and also failed to provide the name of the inquiry officer who investigated the postal office fraud or to explain the role of a coordinator for the distribution of forms in the Food Stamps Scheme.
The opposition protest and the chair rescued the obviously ill-prepared parliamentary secretary by making an announcement that the time for questions had run out.
PPP MPA Ashraf Sohna said on a point of order that it was “the height of the non-seriousness of ministers” that the parliamentary secretary was making efforts to cover up departmental mistakes. He said that if the treasury wanted to reply in such a manner then there was no use for a question hour. Basra later spoke on a point of order about Raymond Davis’ release and said that the PPP would prove that the CM was involved.
More slogan-shouting and a sit-in by MPAs in front of the speaker’s podium followed. Basra said that Sharif should have made the statement in the Punjab Assembly instead of at a press conference, since the house was in session. Basra accused Law Minister Rana Sanaullah of being involved in Davis’ release as well.
The PPP MPA said that the “deal” to release Davis took place in Raiwind and that perhaps the name “Raiwind” should be changed to “Raymond”, a statement that drew protest from treasury members, who were quickly shouted down by the opposition, however. Things got so chaotic at the Punjab Assembly session that at one point, the speaker pointed out that schoolchildren were witnessing the provincial assembly’s proceedings and public representatives should be careful of the message they were giving to the future generation.
He told parliamentarians not to turn the assembly proceedings into a “farce” and avoid making rash statements. He also ordered expunged from the records all “controversial words.” The house is likely to be prorogued today (Wednesday) as the constitutional requirement of being in session for 100 days will be achieved.
