The session of Punjab Assembly was once again adjourned within fifteen minutes due to the lack of quorum on Friday, when the general discussion on law and order was on the agenda.
The adjournment of the session till Monday went in the favour of the ruling party as the government was expected to face tough situation in the House during the general discussion on law and order keeping in view the surge in street crime in Lahore.
Law minister Rana Sanaullah Khan had said in the beginning of the ongoing session that there will be a discussion on the law and order situation of the province during the session and that he will prove that the crime rate in the province has been decreased significantly. The ruling party works hard to complete the quorum when it has to pass a bill in the House, and on other days, the lawmakers do not show up, he said.
The whole agenda items of the day were completed on just two occasions during the ongoing session when the government had to pass some bills and ordinances.
Pakistan Muslim League – N (PML-N) MPA Inamullah Khan Niazi was looted at a traffic signal on Mall Road on Thursday and was deprived of mobile phone and cash worth Rs 15,000. It was expected that the government will face tough criticism from the opposition MPAs for the continuous rise in street crimes, but the quorum was not completed despite a break of nearly 30 minutes.
Answers related to the forestry, fisheries and wildlife departments were also on the agenda in the question-answer session but the quorum was pointed out by an independent lawmaker Ehsan Riaz Fatyana when the first two questions were disposed of due to the absence of the questioners.
Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) MPA Sardar Shahab-ud-Din Khan, while speaking on point of order, said that most questions are killed by the assembly secretariat and they are not sent to the concerned department.
“It’s been two years since I submitted my questions in the assembly secretariat but have not received the answers till date”, he said. Same concern was showed by ruling party MPA Uzma Bukhari, who said that her adjournment motion could not be taken up by the assembly secretariat even after a month.
“I submitted my motion when the students of intermediate were protesting against their results and now the issue is over”, she said, and demanded a computerised system for taking up questions and motions by the assembly secretariat.
MPA Ehsan Riaz Fatyana told Pakistan Today that it is the responsibility of the government to ensure completion of the quorum in the house. Although the opposition MPAs are less in numbers but they take full advantage of the weaknesses of the ruling party in the house, he said.
“I wanted to move the resolution against the dual nationality of bureaucracy and judiciary on Thursday but the assembly secretariat did not allow me to move the resolution,” Fatyana said, and added that he will continue pointing out quorum in the next sessions.
