ISLAMABAD, Sept 22: The government on Thursday rushed through legislative business in the National Assembly in the dying moments of its last sitting when both the opposition alliances – the ARD and MMA — staged walkouts one after the other.

Most importantly the house unanimously rescinded the rejection of clause 11 of the Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources Bill 2005 as well as the whole bill which earlier was left alone after government’s defeat on vote count in June this year.

Speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain who had signalled to prorogue the house without taking up regular legislative business was pressed by Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz to agree to get some important bills passed before prorogation of the house.

He said: “I am doing this on the orders of leader of the house.”

A bill to amend the Prevention and Control of Human Trafficking Ordinance 2002 (The Prevention and Control of Human Trafficking (amendment) bill 2005) and a bill to provide for prevention of money laundering (The Anti Money Laundering Bill, 2005) were introduced.

The house also approved names of eight legislators to be part of a 16-member mediation committee which will propose amendments to the Pemra amendment bill already passed by the lower house but the Senate failed to pass it within 90 days.

Another bill titled the National Institute of Oceanography Bill 2005 was also passed by the house without any opposition.

An adjournment motion seeking a debate on the reported bar on women from casting votes in the local council polls in various parts of the country particularly in some areas of the NWFP was admitted in the National Assembly to come up in its next session for debate.

Sought to be moved by minority member M.P. Bhandara the motion said that the elections in constituencies where women were not allowed to cast votes be declared void and re-elections be held.

Federal minister for parliamentary affairs Dr Sher Afgan Niazi agreed with the notion and admitted the fact that women were not allowed to use their right to vote in a number of constituencies during local body polls and the matter must be debated.

When the house admitted the adjournment motion by voice vote the house also decided by consensus it may be taken in the next session of the lower house.

The house was informed by Commerce Minister Humayun Akhtar Khan that the new price of cotton (phutti) had been fixed at Rs975 per bale and Rs2432 per 40 kg and TCP will intervene to ensure higher price to the farmer.

He was responding to the call-attention notice of Haji Khuda Bakhsh Nizamani who invited attention of the government towards the disenchantment prevailing among the farmers of Sanghar and other areas of Sindh due to far less payment of their produce by textile mills in absence of TCP’s intervention/procurement.

He claimed that the cotton produce had been lowered down by 0.5 million bales in Sindh and Punjab provinces while the farmers were still not getting right prices for their produce.

Speaker Hussain did not allow the opposition to speak on the complaints of pre-poll rigging in the third phase of local councils polls nor announced his ruling on the adjournment motion sought to be moved during current session.

When pointed out by the MMA’s Liaqat Baloch, the speaker said “when a ruling is reserved it cannot be questioned on floor of the house unless announced by the chair”.

Raja Parvaiz Ashraf and many other PPP Parliamentarians lawmakers stood up to speak on the poll rigging allegations but they were not allowed to speak on points of order which forced them to leave the house.

The MMA lawmakers, who did not follow the ARD legislators in their walkout, also walked out a few minutes later when not allowed to speak on the same motion.

Hafiz Hussain Ahmed of MMA who was allowed to speak on a point of order said Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz “who is present in the house to ensure quorum is encircled by the ‘darkhasti’ (applicants) group”.

Prime Minister Aziz at this stage went to sit with MMA president Qazi Hussain Ahmed to exchange views during which the religious alliance’s legislators staged a walkout, forcing Qazi also to follow behind them.

Speaker threatened the treasury lawmakers standing on point of orders that he will prorogue the sitting if they did not sit in their seats.