16 April 2005	Saturday	06 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1426

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ISLAMABAD, April 15: A large number of treasury members, including federal and state ministers, skipped the National Assembly proceedings on Friday forcing the speaker to once again adjourn the session of the lower house due to lack of quorum.

The opposition members, belonging to the People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPP), the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) and the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA), successfully took advantage of the absence of a large number of treasury members and foiled the government’s attempt to complete the business agenda for the Friday’s session by pointing out lack of quorum after staging a walkout.

The government has been facing great difficulties in running the lower house smoothly due to lack of interest of the ministers and treasury members in the assembly proceedings despite the fact that strict warnings had recently been issued to them not only by ruling PML chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, but also by President Gen Pervez Musharraf.

Several times it has happened in the past that the opposition members did not allow the government to complete the agenda after staging a walkout from the house and pointing out lack of quorum. In the Friday’s session, PML-N MNA Khawaja Asif was given the responsibility of pointing out the quorum after the opposition members staged the walkout.

According to the sources, in the last few parliamentary meetings of the ruling party, PML chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain had taken serious notice of the continued absence of the ministers and other party members from the assembly. The PML president and former prime minister, the sources said, had even announced some incentives as a reward for those members, who would remain punctual and regularly attend the session.

However, when the session began on Friday morning, only Federal Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Dr Sher Afgan with some 35 treasury and 13 opposition members was present in the 342-member house. During the whole session, the number of federal and state ministers never exceeded 15 at any time. Despite the fact that there are a total of 72 federal and state ministers besides over 50 parliamentary secretaries and chairmen of standing committees, the government has failed to maintain the quorum for which it requires the presence of 86 members in the house. When Khawaja Asif pointed out the quorum, only six federal ministers and seven state ministers were present in the house.