March, 17 2005	Thursday	06 Safar 1426

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ISLAMABAD, March 16: The opposition and the treasury members on Wednesday joined hands to table a motion on breach of their privilege at the hands of security agencies who had blocked their way and forced the adjournment of Tuesday’s proceedings of the National Assembly. However, during the proceedings, differences in the opposition were exposed when PPP Parliamentarian’s lawmakers did not join the PML-N members who had staged a walkout, following the MMA’s protest against the chair not allowing Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haidri and Tehmina Daultana to speak on points of order.

PML-N parliamentary leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan and Tehmina Daultana tried to persuade the PPP Parliamentarians to make it a combined opposition walkout, but they refused to oblige and instead snubbed the PML-N for following the MMA in the protest.

Earlier there was an uproar in the house when the privilege motion was not put on the house agenda which forced the chair to allow the members to table it and send it to the privilege committee.

Through their separate privilege motions, Syed Naveed Qamar of PPP Parliamentarians and Dr Farid Paracha of MMA registered their strong resentment over the treatment that most of the MPs received when they tried to drive to the parliament house to take part in lower house proceedings.

They said that all roads leading to the parliament house were blocked by army jawans who neither allowed any vehicle on the road nor allowed anyone to walk to the building from the nearby parliament lodges.

As a result, the house proceedings had to be adjourned for the day as only a few of the MPs were able to turn up, they said. They termed it a severe breach of the right of parliamentarians to enter the house to participate in its proceedings and demanded that the motion be referred to the house privilege committee.

No-one from the treasury side opposed the motion except for the Minister Parliamentary Affairs, Dr Sher Afghan Niazi, who admitted that the right of MPs’ entry to parliament had been violated, but also supported the ongoing rehearsal by the forces to prepare for the March 23 Pakistan Day parade.

Earlier, Aitizaz Ahsan and Syed Naveed Qamar said it was the worst day in the history of parliament. Mr Ahsan said: “They country was founded by a civilian political leader and through movement of civilian masses and not by the uniformed men who have occupied the country for over 34 years”.

He said the present ‘democratic experiment’ was seen with suspicion not only in Pakistan but also abroad due to such actions as witnessed on Tuesday. Mian Riaz Pirzada of the ruling PML criticised the blockade and said it not only stopped the MPs but also deprived several students from appearing in their annual examination.

Speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain announced that he would allow the privilege motion to be moved. At that stage, MMA’s Ghafoor Haideri tried to speak on a point of order on the issue, but the speaker did not allow him on the ground that the privilege motion had already been admitted and referred to the committee.

Maulana Haideri walked out in protest and was followed by other MMA members.

Tehmina Daultana of PML-N who also was not allowed by the chair to speak on the subject, followed in the footsteps of the MMA and was joined by other lawmakers of her party. The PPP Parliamentarian’s lawmakers however, remained seated ignoring persuasions by the PML-N to join them. PML-N leaders later told reporters that the PPP Parliamentarians were of the view that the PML(N) should not have followed the MMA.

Responding to a call-attention notice, Minister for Water and Power Liaquat Jatoi informed the house that there was sufficient water for the upcoming crop and that a bumper wheat harvest was expected to give the country self-sufficiency in food grains.

He said the country had 2900 megawatts of surplus electricity and its top priority was agriculture. The call-attention notice by Riaz Fatyana and others related to a ban imposed by FESCO on new tube well connections.

Minister of State for Commerce Hamid Yar Hirraj admitted in the house that the ministry of commerce had recruited 19 steno typists in 2003 from Punjab in violation of the quota scheme and ignored Balochistan urban and rural Sindh and Fata. He assured that in all future recruitments, the ignored areas would be given preference.