Question-hour not taken due to Health sec’s absence
LAHORE: It was utter embarrassment and humiliation for the Punjab government as the treasury miserably failed to take up any agenda item of the day including the Question-hour and the Government Business on Friday, during the 32nd session of the Punjab Assembly.
According to the details, the session of Punjab Assembly started after the delay of one and half hour from its scheduled time with Speaker Rana Muhammad Iqbal Khan in the chair. Soon after the start of the sitting, the speaker announced that unfortunately, the provincial secretary for Primary and Secondary Health Care had not arrived yet and we have questions related to his department on the agenda item. The speaker had to adjourn the session for 20 minutes that increased to an hour in the wait for officials of the health department.
There were only few members sitting in the house when the session resumed, right around the time Health special secretary arrived. Speaking on the point of order, Opposition Leader Mian Mehmood ur Rashid congratulated his party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) for winning the by-election of NA-4 Peshawar and said that PTI has proved all its opponents wrong by securing the seat after getting more than double the number of votes secured by any other contesting party. During his point of order, the opposition leader urged the former prime minister Nawaz Sharif to come back to Pakistan in order to face corruption references filed against him in the accountability court and said that another National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) would not be accepted at all to exonerate Sharif from the cases.
Taking jibe at the government, the opposition leader further added that the government should arrange the lavish breakfast and lunch for the ruling party lawmakers as it might be helpful for the treasury to meet the quorum which is a serious issue for the incumbent assembly. During the speech of the opposition leader, ruling party MPAs kept raising slogans against Imran Khan and said that PTI has won the seat in the Peshawar by-election by rigging the polls.
The sloganeering from both sides of the house was in full swing when an independent lawmaker from Faisalabad Ehsan Riaz Fatyana pointed out the quorum that fell short by that time. The bells kept ringing for five minutes but the quorum could not be met and once again, the frustrated speaker had to adjourn the session for 15 more minutes. The treasury failed to gather 93 members, the figure required to meet the quorum after the resumption of the session. Speaker Rana Iqbal blamed the Health Department for not coming in the house on time and delaying assembly proceedings. He initiated an inquiry against the department and issued directives to submit the report in the august house of Punjab Assembly. Later, the session was adjourned for Monday afternoon.
It is worth mentioning here that 160 MPAs marked their presence in the attendance register of the assembly but the quorum remained a serious concern throughout the day on Friday.
