ISLAMABAD, Feb 12: Frayed tempers blocked a law and order debate and a key bill in the National Assembly on Monday before the house agreed to entertain multiple opposition privilege motions about violence in Saturday’s by-elections for a National Assembly seat and a provincial assembly seat in Sindh.

The government had set the date for the debate on the law and order situation last week but the plan failed just before the start of the discussion after Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sher Afgan Khan Niazi made the discussion conditional to transaction of some legislative business, to which the opposition did not agree.

A meeting of representatives from both sides called by Speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain in his chamber failed to resolve the row, leaving it unclear when the debate would be held.

The government did not move for resuming an unfinished debate on the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Amendment) Bill after members of the People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPP), during angry exchanges between the two sides, threatened to force adjournment of the house by walking out to leave the house without quorum.

The National Assembly had passed last week 19 of the 28 clauses of the bill, aimed mainly to allow newspaper owners to run private television channels, but it could not be taken up again on Friday because of lack of quorum.Tempers ran higher when Mr Niazi opposed privilege motions moved by several PPP and one Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) (PML-N) member complaining of attacks on some PPP MNAs during the by-elections, including a shooting on the car of Azra Fazal Pechuho in Jamshoro, blamed on a provincial minister, and denial of the charges by two members of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM).

In a fiery speech, Dr Azra, sister of former senator Asif Ali Zardari, accused Sindh Minister Altaf Unar for the firing on her and said bullets that hit her car’s windscreen and rear window would have killed her if the vehicle had not been bullet-proof.

The PPP’s Sherry Rehman and Naheed Khan complained of misbehaviour by security forces and police officials in Karachi during the by-election for a National Assembly seat won by an MQM candidate, while Fauzia Wahab alleged her manhandling in Jamshoro where a PML candidate won the provincial assembly seat.

Similar charges were made by the PPP’s Aitzaz Ahsan, Naveed Qamar, Nawab Yusuf Talpur and Ejaz Jakhrani as well as the PML-N’s Khwaja Mohammad Asif, in a separate privilege motion, all of them calling the acts violation of the privilege of the whole house.

MQM parliamentary leader Farooq Sattar and member Israrul Ebad denied the opposition charges which, they said, were inspired by electoral defeats.

Former prime minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali called for restraint by both sides, saying that the violence had set a bad example. He counselled the ruling parties to agree to the opposition’s demand to send the motions to the house standing committee on privileges for a probe.Mr Niazi said although the complaints of violence and rigging were related to the Sindh government or the Election Commission, he would agree to sending the motions to the privileges committee.

PPP secretary-general Raja Pervez Ashraf moved an adjournment motion seeking a debate on the murder of six PPP activists in Attock on Friday but the chair put off a discussion on its admissibility until Tuesday.

Just before the adjournment, Information and Broadcasting Minister Mohammad Ali Durrani arrived in the house to deny a statement by PML-N member Khwaja Mohammad Asif that the minister had advised opposition members last Friday to point out the lack of quorum.