June 08, 2007	Friday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 22, 1428

QUETTA, June 7: Deputy Speaker Mohammad Aslam Bhootani, who chaired the proceeding of the Balochistan Assembly on Thursday, did not allow debate on an adjournment motion tabled by the opposition leader despite backing from the MMA ministers.

Opposition Leader Kachkol Ali’s motion regarding the suspension of private TV channels, cases against working journalists and government threats to Geo TV’s Dr Shahid was admitted on June 5.

Provincial ministers Maulana Abdul Wasay, Maulana Wahid Siddique and Maulana Ataullah did not agree with the chair that the motion could not be discussed since the matter was subjudice and said that if the issue of the chief justice that was pending before the Supreme Court could be discussed in the house then why could one not debate the threats to journalists.

Initially, the deputy speaker said that the motion could not be debated as the movers were not present in the house. Maulana Wasay said the motion was now the property of the house and, therefore, discussion should be permitted.

But the chair stated that the rules of assembly did not permit him to allow discussion on the issue since it was subjudice and prorogued the session sine die.

Earlier, opposition members during the question hour session staged a walk out from the house to express solidarity with journalists protesting at the main gate of the assembly against government policy to curb the media.

Later, opposition members Mr Kachkol, Abdur Rahim Ziaratwal and Shafique Ahmed in a press conference condemned the deputy speaker’s act of sabotaging the motion.

They said that the military ruler had make tall claims of being champions of democracy, liberalism, toleration and moderation but in practice he had made the parliament a rubber stamp, humiliated the judiciary, muzzled press freedom and deprived people of their fundamental and democratic rights.

They said the government was perturbed by the reaction of people over the filing of a presidential reference against the chief justice and the Karachi violence, adding that the government had lost all its options to sideline the opposition parties and lawyers.

They said that if the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal ministers extended cooperation then the opposition members would requisite the session of the provincial assembly to reintroduce the motion that was bulldozed by the deputy speaker.