KARACHI: Opposition violating rules of business: speaker
By Our Staff Reporter
KARACHI, May 16: Sindh Assembly Speaker Syed Muzaffar Hussain Shah has said that the opposition, which had moved a requisition to discuss the issue of maltreatment with their workers, leaders and legislators in Lahore on arrival of their party leader Asif Zardari, failed to deliberate on its admissibility even today, which was the 10th day of the session due to its changing priorities.
Mr Shah was speaking to a group of journalists in his chamber after the assembly session was prorogued where he reviewed the conduct of the opposition with particular reference of PPP members.
He said he was of the view that after voting on the adjournment motion other business of the agenda should be taken up including consideration of six government bills. He said he wanted to referred the bills to the concerned standing committees with the direction to asses them and sent back with their reports to the House.
Every time when there used to be the turn to take up the admissibility of the adjournment motion, he said, the PPP members used to raise some new issue or move a resolution under 211 by suspending all other business on the order of the day.
He referred to the proceedings of Monday when it was turn to discuss the admissibility on the adjournment motion pertaining to the Lahore incident of April 16 and the privilege motion of opposition member of Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal, Mr Hameeduallh, besides the deferred questions hour from Friday but almost two hours were wasted on the fresh adjournment motion moved by leader of the opposition Nisar Ahmad Khuhro as the PPP members instead of allowing the house to run in orderly manner continue to interrupt Law Minister Iftikhar Ahmad Chaudhry.
Whenever, he was asked to give his opinion on allowing Mr Khuhro to present his motion out of turn, over half-a-dozen members used to rise from their seats and start speaking.
They did not want to hear the law minister. He said under the rules of business of the assembly if a member sought permission to move his motion out of turn, after hearing the mover, the law minister in his own right could speak and give his opinion.
But, instead listening to the law minister, Mr Saifullah Dharejo without seeking permission stood from his seat and attempted to take the floor although the chair had asked the law minister to speak on the permission to allow Mr Khuhro to move the motion under 211. Mr Dharejo, despite his repeated requests more than 20 times did not listen and continued to disrupt the proceedings by passing remarks on the chair.
At the same time, over half-a-dozen other members from the opposition benches also stood and started speaking which had created a rumpus in the House. He said this attitude of the members was not only violation of the rules of business but also an insult of the House.
This behaviour of the members, particularly of Mr Dharejo, forced him to postpone the House for half-an-hour to bring sanity in the assembly and on resumption of the business he had to issue an advice to Mr Dharejo in his own interest to follow rules of business in future.
In response to a question, Mr Shah said that under rule 215 the minister was allowed to make a statement on the floor of the House. He said he had allowed Home Minister Rauf Siddiqui to give a statement on the matter pertaining to the rape case of Shabana Mirani when a member from the treasury bench Shakir Ali had drew his attention about presence of the home minister in the house.
