The quorum issue on the 3rd of the 32nd session of the Punjab Assembly on Thursday caused embarrassment to the government and resulted in adjournment of the session till Friday 3:00pm.
The non-serious attitude of the treasury members and the provincial ministers towards the assembly business as well as the absence of members of provincial assembly (MPAs) from the house was pointed out by the opposition thrice.
Punjab chief minister’ Principal Secretary Dr Tauqeer Ahmed was present in the assembly to ensure the presence of the party legislators during the proceedings.
He managed to maintain the quorum when the assembly bells were rang twice but he failed to send the lawmakers back in the House the third time.
The session was to begin at 10:00am on Thursday with Speaker Rana Muhammad Iqbal Ahmed Khan in the chair, however it started almost 2hours and 15 minutes late as the MPAs arrived late. Much important legislation could not be done as the opposition legislators kept drawing the attention of the House towards the lack of quorum, stating that the absentees had failed to ensure their presence in the assembly session despite frequent requests and appeals.
Pakistan Muslim League (PML-Q) MPA Seemal Karman recorded her protest in the House against the absence of the provincial ministers. On a point of order, she observed that the ministers were reluctant to come to the House as they could not face the members’ queries regarding their departments.
During the question hour, Parliamentary Secretary on Transport Khurram Gulfam told the House that the Punjab government had approved 28 new posts of secretaries for the District Regional Transport Authority (DRTA) on a permanent basis. He said that the matter was currently with the Regulation Department, which was formulating the Services Rules for the newly created seats of the DRTA secretaries. After that, the Transport Department would make the appointments on these seats on merit and through proper advertisements in the newspapers.
Pakistan People’s party (PPP) minority member Pervez Rafique raised the issue of unjust disbursement of funds among the Christian MPAs, saying that only the minority members belonging to the treasury benches were being given the Christmas celebrations’ funds by the government, which had been increased from Rs 10 million to Rs 20 million.
Pervaiz Rafique announced to walk out of the session but stopped when he was assured by Speaker Rana Muhammad Iqbal Khan that the issue would be resolved at the earliest.
During the session, Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) MPA Waris Kahloo presented the Privilege Committee’s reports in the House, while PML-N MPA Dr Asad Ashraf tabled a report of the Special Committee.
Opposition members Seemal Kamran, Zobia Rubab Malik and Azma Bokhari, through adjournment motions, raised the issue of the police torture on protesting nurses and lady health workers on Mall Road, Lahore, upon which the parliamentary secretary presented an inquiry report on the issue.
He said that the rotten eggs were not being thrown on the nurses by police, rather it were the traders of the Mall Road who were resisting the protests. He said the Police did not torture the protesters, rather it had disbursed them through effective tactics.