The Punjab Assembly passed Punjab Local Government (Second Amendment) Bill 2012 and thus will now have the right to redefine constituencies. Besides Local Government Bill 2012, the House also passed two more bills regarding environment protection and Bank of Punjab. The Assembly session started with a delay of one hour and ten minutes with Speaker Rana Muhammad Iqbal in chair while the quorum was pointed out twice during the four hour session. The Bank of Punjab (Amendment) Bill 2011 would increase provincial government’s stake in the bank from 51 percent to 80 percent. The Local Government (Second Amendment) Bill 2012 has empowered the government to change the previous constituencies before the next Local Bodies election.
Before the amendment in Bank of Punjab Bill 2012, the government had 51 percent shares of the BoP but now it would hold up to 80 percent of the shares issued by the bank. The Opposition criticised the Bill and said it involved malafide intention on the government’s part. Opposition members alleged that the government wanted to favour ‘someone’. Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah defended the amendment and said it would improve the financial health of Punjab government and more money would be injected into the bank. “This amendment is necessary,” he opined.
PPP legislator Ehsan-ul-Haq Ahsan Nolatia said the issue involved public money thus it should be discussed on a public forum by financial experts. He said the people’s right to know where their money was going. The House also passed the Punjab Environmental Protection (Amendment) Bill 2011. Sana also tabled four new bills, including the Punjab Zakat and Ushr Bill 2012, the Government Sadiq College Women University Bahawalpur Bill 2012, the Government College Women University Faisalabad Bill 2012 and the Government Women University Sialkot Bill 2012.
The speaker referred the bills to the relevant standing committees. The attendance of legislators remained major problem for the Treasury benches and the Opposition pointed out the quorum twice. The intention of Opposition was to disturb the legislation business. However, the speaker suspended the House’s proceeding for almost one hour, allowing the Treasury benches to increase the number of members. The House also took up question-answer session on schools and the Education Department. The House was adjourned till Thursday morning.
