LAHORE, Sept 15: The combined opposition in the Punjab Assembly rescinded its decision to boycott the proceedings of the house on Thursday after the deputy speaker allowed it to voice its concerns over what its leaders described as massive use of police, force and other tactics by the ruling PML to rig the recently-held local polls.

“We decided not to boycott the proceedings because our members got the opportunity to expose the rulers on the issue of rigging the local polls,” opposition leader in the assembly Qasim Zia told this reporter.

The decision to boycott the assembly proceedings was taken by the PPP and the PML-N during the parliamentary party meeting before the start of the house proceeding.

“We had decided to boycott the proceedings in case the speaker did not allow us to discuss the issue of massive rigging by the government in the province or if the treasury members interrupted us during our speeches.

“Since we got the chance to discuss and say what we wanted, we stayed in the house,” the opposition leader said.

Deputy Speaker Shaukat Husain Mazari, who was chairing the session, rejected the opposition MPA Rana Aftab’s demand to suspend the rules of business and allow a general debate on the local polls in the house as “every member of the assembly from Rahim Yar Khan to Attock wanted to discuss the election.”

The treasury benches also did not oppose the chair’s move to allow the opposition to speak out against irregularities and rigging in the polls randomly in order to prevent boycott of the proceedings.

Some opposition members, nevertheless, resented the decision not to boycott the proceedings. “We had decided at the parliamentary party meeting to stage a walkout from the house to protest against rigging even if a general debate on the issue was permitted and our leaders and members were allowed to speak.

“It is not fair on the part of our leaders to stay in the house, especially when the chair did not allow a general debate on the issue,” a PPP MPA told this reporter.

The opposition leaders, however, decided to abstain from the meeting of the assembly’s advisory committee that decides the session’s business.

Later when the issue of the opposition’s abstention from the committee meeting was brought up by law minister Basharat Raja in the house, Mr Zia said the opposition had stayed away from the committee because the speaker and the government did not recognize him and Rana Sanaullah Khan as leaders of the PPP-Parliamentarian and the PML-N.

“Notify any one from among us as parliamentary leader and we’ll send him to the next committee meeting,” Mr Zia responded. The minister, nevertheless, wanted him and Rana Sanaullah Khan to attend the meeting as the leader and deputy leader of the opposition and not as parliamentary party leaders.