October 22, 2003	Wednesday	Sha’aban 25, 1424

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ISLAMABAD, Oct 21: Perennial absences by ruling coalition members hit the National Assembly hard on Tuesday, delaying a sitting devoted to private business for more than 100 minutes.

But the treasury benches eventually managed the necessary numbers that could keep the lower house running even after an opposition protest walkout and an attempt to block the proceedings on the plea of lack of quorum.

The house was due to meet at 10am but speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain arrived at the rostrum at 11.42am to occupy his chair for starting the proceedings marked by usual desk-thumping and slogan-chanting by members of opposition parties to continue their prolonged protest against Legal Framework Order (LFO).

The house seemed to have the needed quorum of one-fourth or 86 members of the 342-seat house much before that but speaker did not arrive when there were more members on opposition benches than on the treasury benches.

The scene sparked speculation in the galleries that the session was delayed to avoid a suspension of the proceedings for lack of quorum after the expected opposition walkout.

The opposition began loud desk-thumping with folders and note pads and chanting “Go Musharraf go” and “No LFO no” slogans immediately after the sitting formally started with the recitation of verses from the holy Quran.

But they briefly interrupted the protest with “fateha” prayer for the souls of former Bosnian president Alija Izetbegovitch who died on Sunday and the bus accident near Abbottabad on Monday.

After that they continued the noisy protest for several minutes before walking out along with a rebel member of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA), Maulana Shah Abdul Aziz, who has been boycotted by opposition protests in recent weeks but seemed to have been persuaded by alliance colleagues to accompany them on Tuesday.

The scene brought an instant complaint from PPP-Patriots parliamentary leader Sher Afgan Niazi that the young cleric from Karak district of the NWFP had been “dragged out” by the MMA deputy parliamentary leader Hafiz Hussain Ahmed and a demand for intervention by the parliamentary security’s sergeant-at-arms.

“If he did not want to go then it should not have happened and it will not happen in the future,” the speaker said in an apparent anger over the incident.

But Maulana Aziz, who says he differs with the opposition strategy of protest but remains loyal to MMA leadership, surprised the treasury benches when he came back to the house while Mr Niazi was still calling for an action against the opposition for a perceived use of force against a dissident.

The speaker asked Maulana Aziz if he wanted to say anything, and the member put a counter-question: “About what?”

“I do not want to say anything,” the member said in reply to another question from the chair.

At a later stage, when PML-Q member Zahid Hamid occupied the speaker’s chair, Maulana Aziz took Mr Niazi to task for criticizing another MMA member, Asadullah Bhutto, who arrived in the house to point out what he saw as a lack of quorum in a move to block the proceedings.

Mr Hamid ordered a count of members and later declared the house had the necessary quorum, at which the MMA member from Karachi left the house.

Mr Niazi called for action against the MMA member for what he saw as an attempt to waste the time of the house.

But the chair dismissed the plea, saying the opposition member had raised a point of order allowed by the house rules of procedure.

Maulana Aziz surprised Mr Niazi by launching an attack on him for his criticism of Assadullah Bhutto’s move, saying “this does not behove” a senior parliamentarian like him.

“They will come (back) to house and will do it...,” Maulana Aziz said about the opposition conduct that he saw as legal.

The house was adjourned until 10am on Friday after disposing of an adjournment motion from pro-government independent member Makhdoom Syed Ahmad Alam Anwar about damage suffered by cotton crop from a severe pest attack — that sparked a fiery debate — and two call-attention notices by ruling coalition members.