ISLAMABAD, Oct 27: Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali’s presence throughout its sitting kept the National Assembly in quorum on Monday even after an opposition walkout, inspiring his coalition to speak up for causes ranging from environment to their own salaries.
But the lower house remained as polarized as ever during one year of its life amid a continuing noisy protest by opposition parties against President Pervez Musharraf’s controversial Legal Framework Order (LFO).
In an apparent move to check frequent suspensions of proceedings for lack of quorum due to absence of coalition members, Mr Jamali set an example of presence in the house from a noisy start to a stretched out adjournment of the sitting that continued even after completing the day’s agenda.
Mr Jamali came to the house immediately after presiding over a meeting of the PML-Q parliamentary party, where he was reported by party sources to have voiced anger over members’ absences that often broke the house quorum and were responsible for adjournment of the last sitting on Friday with hardly any business conducted.
But he was greeted by loud opposition desk-thumping and “go Musharraf go” and “no LFO no” slogans as the house met one hour late with deputy speaker Sardar Mohammad Yaqub in the chair.
BEELINE TO JAMALI: Members from the treasury benches made a beeline to Mr Jamali’s desk for the full two hours he remained in the house to discuss unknown matters raised by them only verbally or through papers that some of them were seen carrying with them.
A smiling prime minister initially seemed to savour chats with members who made a queue on front benches on his left — each of them sitting next to him turn by turn on a desk reserved for PML-Q chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, now visiting Germany for medical treatment.
But the queue could be jumped by women members or ministers, who would come from the right side and take Shujaat Hussain’s seat to benefit from the company of the prime minister who has often missed the assembly sittings possibly to avoid being embarrassed by the LFO controversy, over which he is yet to resume promised talks with the opposition.
At one point he broke off from the group and went over to a desk on empty opposition benches for a chat with Food and Agriculture Minister Sardar Yar Mohammad Rind, who says he feels threatened from tribal enemies and has been allowed to import to a bullet-proof jeep.
However, there was no respite for the prime minister as more party members followed him there as well to talk about their problems.
As if to prove he was not oblivious of what was going on the house, the prime minister intervened during the question hour to assure the house his government would fully attend to problems of Pakistani students studying abroad— whether they were in China, Saudi Arabia or Iran.
“We are giving attention and this (trend) will go on,” he said.
After the noisy protest from their seats through nearly 10 minutes of the question hour, opposition members walked out of the house.
The opposition’s departure brought calm to the house and enough time to the treasury benches to go beyond the day’s agenda when speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain, who occupied the chair later, allowed them to talk about other matters of interest to them through points of order, including a cabinet decision to increase their salaries and allowances.
FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY BILL: After the question hour, the most important of the three items on the agenda was Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz’s introduction of bill designed to eliminate revenue deficit and reduce public debt to a prudent level by effective public debt management and two call-attention notices moved by ruling coalition members.
The Fiscal Responsibility and Debt Limitation Bill, 2003, which the finance minister could not introduce on Friday when the house was adjourned for lack of quorum, also makes its mandatory for government to lay before parliament for scrutiny all its decisions having a bearing on the country’s economy.
It must now go to a select committee before its passage by the house.
PETROMAN SACKINGS: Kunwar Khalid Yunus (MQM, Karachi) complained about reported sacking of 20 employees from Karachi of Petroman, a federal government organization meant to promote computer literacy, and called for a government assurance that justice would be done to them.
Information Technology and Telecom Minister Awais Ahmed Khan Leghari told the house that action was being taken against Petroman management for what he called destroying the organization, which he said was not making any profit and was being subsidised.
He assured the house that his ministry was handling the issue “in the greater interest of the organization” without any consideration of the origin of the employees. The house was adjourned until 11am on Tuesday.
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