Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Tuesday warned the federal government of a possible protest during the presidential address to the joint sitting of the Parliament if the speech of the leader of the opposition was not allowed to go on air on Pakistan Television (PTV).
The opposition MPs attended the House proceedings but following the government’s refusal to telecast the speeches on PTV staged a boycott of the House and also raised slogans targeting Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
In a sharp contrast to the parliamentary history, the joint opposition also again observed walkout from the proceedings of the lower house of the parliament in protest to the continued blackout of the parliamentary proceedings by the official electronic media.
Moreover, the joint opposition in a defiant move, also announced to hold its separate session to discuss Finance Bill outside the parliament from today (Wednesday). The decision was taken following the federal government’s refusal to allow the PTV telecast the speech of opposition leaders live.
“Now the government should decide whether it wanted to run the house by June 1,” said Shah Mahmood Qureshi, giving the government a veiled threat of a strong protest by the opposition during address of the president.
Qureshi, speaking on his turn, urged the government to move forward with the parliamentary traditions. He argued what was wrong in telecasting the speech of opposition leader live on the PTV. He said there was no use of the budget session if nobody in the PM House was ready to listen to the opposition critique.
Qureshi blamed some of treasury members for acting idiotic. “These lawmakers are creating hurdles for their own government,” warned Qureshi.
It was again Khurshid Shah, the leader of the opposition, to take the government head on for its refusal to allow live telecast of the budget session. He taunted the treasury benches of being afraid of the fact that the opposition would totally expose the government anomalies in the budget.
“Why the government is so afraid of telecasting my speech live. You cannot suppress the voice of opposition. The government has decided not to telecast my speech on the direction of a grade-22 officer,” said the opposition leader, referring to the powerful bureaucratic lobby which he claimed was taking all the decisions from Prime Minister’s House.
Shah also urged National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq to follow the footprints of Senate Chairman Mian Raza Rabbani who once had taken strong stance on the similar issue.
Khurshid Shah said that he will only make speech on budgetary proposals if his speech is telecast live on the state media.
He said if the government has the discretion to present its point of view then the Opposition also deserves the rights to present its point of view on the media. He said this parliament represents the will of the entire nation and nobody has the right to choke the voice of the opposition.
He was of the opinion that the present government is distributing death instead of electricity, condemning firing at protestors against load shedding in Peshawar. He stated that this is not kingship where people are beaten for raising voice against the rulers.
He expressed reservations for prolong hours load shedding as it is disturbing life of common man in the country.
In an apparent bid to woo back the opposition, Speaker Ayaz Sadiq urged Khurshid Shah to deliver budget speech. “I can only make a request to the government on this matter,” said Ayaz Sadiq, reflecting his compromised position.
The federal government was represented by Minister for Defence Production Rana Tanvir Hussain, who while responding to the concerns raised by opposition leader, said there was a visible change in thinking of the opposition leader.
“Why your tone is changed Mr opposition leader. What are the motives behind this change of heart? Have you been trapped,” argued Rana Tanvir, dropping a strong hint of some past agreement with the opposition leader.
Rana Tanvir then took to task the PTI’s Chairman Imran Khan for his anti-government overtures, dubbing it an assault on the democratic process. This triggered a noisy response from the PTI benches who started raising anti-government slogans. The house again echoed with slogans, “Go-Nawaz Go” and “Gali Gali Main Shor Hay – Nawaz Sharif Chor Hai”.
Later, the opposition lawmakers staged a walkout from the house in protest. Before leaving, PPP’s MNAs Imran Zafar Leghari and Nafeesa Shah pointed out quorum but the speaker declared the required strength was present in the house.
Later, the treasury benches lawmakers delivered speeches on budget in the absence of opposition.
JUI-F MNA Shahida Akhtar said the opposition should participate in the budget speech. She said one opposition party is only involved in character assassination of other parties’ leaders. Lauding some of budgetary proposals, she said the government should frame a policy to bring improvement in the lives of the poor people.
Maulana Ameer Zaman of the JUI-F appreciated the government for presenting its fifth consecutive budget. He appreciated the government for conducting population census in the country.
PML-N Rao Muhammad Ajmal Khan, taking part in budget speech, said the financial institutions were appreciative of the economic strides made by the country under the leadership of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. ENDS/-