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LAHORE, Feb 4: The opposition members, excluding those belonging to the MMA, walked out of the Punjab Assembly on Tuesday when the Speaker ordered voting on a PML-Q MPA’s resolution to praise Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi’s role in restoring democracy and developing the farm sector.
The house adopted the resolution with a majority vote, as Speaker Afzal Sahi sent two treasury members to bring the opposition back. However, the opposition members did not return until the speaker adjourned the session for a meeting at 3pm on Thursday.
The treasury and the opposition benches continued creating a rumpus in the house throughout the discussion on Shehla Shahid Butt’s resolution. The speaker intervened and urged both the sides to maintain decorum and not to abuse any leader.
Opposition leader Rana Sanaullah Khan said the speaker could have avoided the situation by withholding the resolution in its secretariat.
He said there was no need to table such a resolution, as the opposition did not believe that Chaudhry had rendered any services for the cause of democracy. He, however, said they were ready not to oppose the resolution if the words of restoration of real democracy through dialogues were replaced with the restoration of their (PML-Q) government.
Law Minister Raja Basharat said as the resolution had been tabled by a private member, the government could not amend it.
MMA’s Ehsanullah Waqas said the real democracy had not been restored. “Had the democracy been restored, there would not have been unilateral amendments to the Constitution by a dictator,” he added.
Shaikh Ijaz said those who were talking of real democracy had (politically) murdered Mian Azhar, forcibly occupied the PML House, provided crutches to the army rule for more than two years and let Gen Musharraf use them as his B-team.
Agriculture Minister Arshad Lodhi said there were two options before the politicians for restoring democracy — confrontation and dialogue (with the dictator). He said they (the PML-Q) went for the second option and reorganized the party.
PML-Q’s Malik Amer said those who believed in confrontation had abandoned the country and the others in the country should be allowed to hold a dialogue.
Rana Mashhud called the PML-Q members selfish, saying those who were praising the Chaudhrys today were admiring Mian Azhar three months ago.
PLEDGE TO KASHMIRIS: The Punjab Assembly pledged to support the Kashmiris’ right to self-determination and extend political, moral and diplomatic help in their struggle.
The house demanded an end to massacre of ‘unarmed’ Kashmiris and atrocities on the innocent.
Calling for plebiscite in the occupied Kashmir in the light of the UN resolutions, the house urged the world to press India for a peaceful solution to the issue on the negotiation table.
It said one million-strong Indian army could not shake the Kashmiris’ struggle for self-determination and renewed the pledge that under the house leader and with the cooperation of the opposition, it would always side with the Kashmiris.
The resolution was tabled by Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Raja Muhammad Basharat and PML-N’s Shaikh Amjad Aziz.
MMA’s Ehsanullah Waqas urged the chair to acknowledge the Kashmiri Mujahideen’s struggle and include it in the resolution. But the law minister opposed it on the ground that Mr Waqas should have followed the procedure to amend the resolution.
Another alliance’s MPA, citing latest figures of casualties in the occupied Kashmir, urged the house to take some practical steps to help the Kashmiris.
