28 September 2004	Tuesday	12 Shaban 1425

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LAHORE, Sept 27: The 17th session of the Punjab Assembly was prorogued on Monday on the note that the government failed to maintain quorum on the last day of the longest session of the incumbent house.

It was 22nd day of the session and the house was about to take up privilege motions when PPP's Zahid Pervez pointed out quorum to the chair, being held by deputy speaker Shaukat Mazari.

The chair ordered a count of the members and ringing of bells for five minutes and they were found short of the required number. The situation was no better even after five minutes of ringing of bells, as law minister Raja Basharat and other seniors of the treasury benches, unlike in the past, remained stuck to their seats instead of rushing to lobbies for herding MPAs into the house.

The chair, against common parliamentary practice of ordering for ringing of bells for further 15 or 30 minutes, read out the governor's notification proroguing proceedings of the house for an indefinite period.

The house was to hold general discussion on the important issue of environment. Earlier, the house witnessed a pandemonium when PPP's Ehsan Naulatia, on a point of order, requested the chair to ask the house to pray for ailing chief minister Pervaiz Elahi "so that he could return to play his role in further desecration of the constitution and democracy."

A furious Raja Basharat described it as "grossly inferior mentality and mean approach" as most of the ruling party's ministers and MPAs stood up and shouted shame on Mr Naulatia.

The Raja said the house was a witness to the fact that when the opposition had sought that the house should pray for Shahbaz Sharif (who was undergoing some surgery in America some months ago) no one from the treasury had opposed it.

He said now the house should pray for the health of the chief minister in the same spirit. Then the house prayed for Pervaiz Elahi, who had undergone angioplasty on Sunday.

PPP's Samiullah, later, clarified that what Naulatia said was not the stance of the opposition that did not want to do politicking at the cost of anyone's health. The treasury members did not allow Mr Naulatia to clarify, as whenever he would take the floor the law minister as well as others would shout.

On a call attention notice by Ehsanullah Waqas, Raja Basharat told the house that the complainant in Dr Pervez Awan murder case was not cooperating with police by producing witnesses and other proofs before the law enforcers.

He claimed that facts were different from what had been mentioned in the FIR. The law minister said the six doctors nominated in the FIR, including the chief chemical examiner of the Services Hospital and the Munshi Hospital medical superintendents, could not be arrested before producing any undeniable proofs against them.