October 13, 2006	Friday	Ramazan 19, 1427

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LAHORE, Oct 12: Deputy opposition leader Rana Sanaullah was not allowed by the chair on Thursday to take the floor of the Punjab Assembly when he attempted to speak on the overthrow of the Nawaz Sharif government by Gen Pervez Musharraf seven years ago.

Law Minister Raja Basharat was responding to the call attention notice, moved by Kunwal Naseem, when Mr Rana said on a point of order that Oct 12, 1999, was the black day when the constitution of the country was violated by a general by dismissing the elected government of Nawaz Sharif.

The chair asked Mr Rana to sit down and let the minister complete reply to the call attention notice but the opposition leader continued speaking while Raja also started reading the reply.

Raja said undemocratic attitude by the opposition members who called themselves champions of democracy in fact hindered democratic process in the country. “The people who do not believe in supremacy of institutions and the constitution are actually responsible for most of the problems faced by the nation,” he said while urging the opposition to refrain from making “tall claims and undue criticism.”

The remarks of the law minister led to an uproar in the house, with opposition members chanting ‘Go Musharraf go.’

Deputy speaker Shaukat Mazari said that he always respected the point of view of all the members and allowed opposition leader Qasim Zia to take the floor.

Zia posed certain questions to the treasury benches through the chair. “Was Rana Sahib wrong in saying that a general dismissed an elected government on Oct 12, 1999? Were most of the sitting ministers also not part of the cabinet of the ousted government? Is the present government a democratic one? Was the sitting chief minister not a part of that government?”

There was no reply from the treasury benches. Mr Mazari said the members must also respect the chair and extend their cooperation to him for conducting business of the house with decorum. “Rana Sahib should have stopped when I asked him to sit down.”

After the adjournment of the session, the opposition members held a demonstration at the stairs of the Punjab Assembly building as part of the black day.

Qasim Zia, Rana Sanaullah, Arshad Baggu, Rana Aftab, Sheikh Ejaz and Azma Bokhari were prominent among the protesters who chanted `Go Musharraf go’ and `Mehngai khatam karo’ (end inflation).

Later, Qasim Zia told newsmen the government had proved they had neither any concern with the problems nor have any relation with the poor of the country. “They are the representatives of the general and not of the people. A handful of opportunists are after the democratic norms.”