- Punjab Assembly sessions within, protests outside
The major political parties are at their reckless, unprofitable game again, threatening and bad-mouthing each other, warning of street agitation, hinting at no-confidence motions, with government spokesmen sarcastically advising opposition leaders to look to their lawyers in anticipation of new corruption cases, of leaders suffering temporary amnesia regarding each other’s repeated hateful remarks, indeed wasting time on overthrowing the newly established federal government. With the prestigious position of Leader of the Opposition, both in national and Punjab assemblies conveniently kept within the Sharif family circle, NAB’s remand of Shahbaz Sharif was bound to have repercussions in the PA, but it has ended in physical and verbal excesses all round, that have virtually paralysed provincial legislature working.
There is no doubt that the PML-N boycott of the ongoing PA session is ultimately bound with the continuing machinations and enmities existing at the centre between PTI-PML-N-PPP, the corruption cases haunting the Sharifs whose final outcome is close at hand, NAB turning its gaze or glare on Asif Zardari, and the inept performance of the government over last two months, the very epitome of confusion and indecision, or to be fair, of inexperience and shocking state of the economy. The former Punjab chief minister’s arrest on October 5 set in motion a series of political events that also led to the ‘mini-hurricane’ produced by protesting PML-N legislators during the ‘mini-budget’ session on October 16, that in turn resulted in six party members being banned from the provincial assembly pending inquiry, and the subsequent boycott by PML-N. Reportedly, vulgar language was widely employed, property vandalised, and even the Speaker’s person endangered, the ultimate parliamentary sin. The four major players in the present tense political drama or absurd farce, namely the Punjab chief minister, leader of the opposition, the Speaker and lastly the Punjab information minister, who is not exactly known for past euphemistic comments, all need to soften positions, build bridges and reach some compromise, else the contagion might spread, undermining the entire system. Back-bencher’s apparently slavish devotion to respective leaderships should also be tempered with some independent, pragmatic thought. The sight of near-empty Punjab assembly sessions is not a happy one—or good omen.
