LAHORE – The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)-led opposition in the Punjab Assembly (PA) submitted another requisition to summon a fresh session of the House on Friday and said that the opposition would not allow the treasury to escape their questions.
A day earlier, the PPP had proved its strength by having a session on its requisition and also foiled the treasury’s attempts to point out the quorum thrice. The party decided to move another requisition when its request to let the House session continue for another day was not catered for.
The requisition was submitted with the office of the acting PA Secretary Malik Aftab Maqbool Joiya under the leadership PPP deputy parliamentary leader Shaukat Basra. PPP leaders said it was binding for the speaker to summon the session within 14 days. They also said that the fresh requisition was signed by 111 parliamentarians belonging to various opposition parties.
Basra said that opposition demanded the Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Shahbaz Sharif’s presence in the House who had visited the House only nine times over the past three years. He said that the CM had come six times in the first year and his last three visits to the House were paid during the last two years.
He also said that his party was not satisfied with the provincial government’s progress as it had failed to resolve the wheat procurement issue that was supposed to be discussed during the last session. He said the opposition also wanted to discuss some other important public issues in the House.
Questioning the CM’s absence, he said the opposition failed to understand why the CM was scared of joining the sessions, adding that the opposition would force him to come to the House and respond to its queries. He also said that the Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz (PML-N)-led government had already shown its frustration and fears during the last session on Thursday when the quorum was pointed out thrice.
