June 30, 2008	Monday	Jamadi-us-Sani 25, 1429

KARACHI, June 29: It will not be an overstatement to describe the entire proceedings of the budget session 2008-09 of the Sindh Assembly, which began in the mid of June and concluded after two weeks on Saturday, as embodiment of the reconciliation spirit.

From the very first day when Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah presented the budget till the last session during which the Finance Bill 2008 was adopted, through five days of general discussion and demands for grants, the overall atmosphere in the house appeared well disciplined.

This was indeed a unique experience for journalists reporting from the press gallery as for them it was difficult to recall any of the budget session without scenes of chaos, rumpus and tattering of budget documents on the floor of the house at least during the last two decades.

The active participation of the soft-spoken Shah, who being a fatherly figure command respect from both sides in the house, in the discussion was a new feature that could be cited for the successful soft drive of the budget.

Speaker Nisar Ahmad Khuhro may equally deserve its credit because of his non-partisan attitude towards members of the house. However, he faltered on a few occasions when he ignored the tenor and tone of some ministers, who instead of encouraging fresh entry to the elected house did not fail to rub them for being naïve to the rules of business. Mr Khuhro, who presided over the session, found a disciplined house in the absence of any substantial opposition as 17 members currently occupy the opposition benches, while the treasury benches enjoy the strength of 149 members in a house of 168.

Similarly, credit may also go to leader of the opposition Jam Madad Ali, a soft-spoken senior parliamentarian sandwiched between a tiny team of 18 members and a directive of his party chief Pir Pagara not to take on for the sake of opposition but to back all those policies and measures of the government aimed at betterment of the people and development of the province.

Almost all the treasury members, particularly PPP legislators, in their speeches defended the budget as poor friendly with scores of measures to reduce poverty, generate employment, provide land to the landless tillers, improve law and order and accomplish the mission of slain leader Benazir Bhutto of ‘Roti, kapra aur makan’.

As far as the art of oratory is concerned some of the outstanding speeches were those made by the following members.

Shazia Marri’s speech can be termed the best for its tone and tenor which was punctuated by thumping of desk profusely by her colleagues as she rebutted all criticism from the opposition point by point.

Murad Ali Shah used all tools at his command to overawe one’s opponent. He countered Arif Jatoi’s claim of errors in the budget document. His speech was a manifestation of good home work and his banking background.

Sassui Palejo, who has returned second time from the general seat, did have a flow of thoughts and style but she could have earned laurels from her colleagues had she reined her emotions to convey her message across the house.

Besides Syed Sardar Ahmad and Shoaib Bokhari others from the Muttahida Qaumi Movement side who preferred to highlight the issues instead of delivering political speeches were Faisal Sabzwari and Askari Taqvi.

Faisal Sabzwari in his well worded speech expressed the need for showing magnanimity so that the province and the country could be taken forward.

Quoting figures from the World Bank report, Syed Askari Taqvi said the country was losing six per cent of its GDP due to pollution. Saying that no industrialist was ready to cooperate with the government to contain pollution, he warned that the country was heading towards environment disaster.

Amir Nawab of the Awami National Party termed provincial autonomy a solution to all problems, including the NFC issue, for all times to come.

Some of the star questions and supplementary queries were asked by treasury members and some time it was felt as if the PPP had extended support to the inexperienced opposition to give flavour to an otherwise drab proceeding.

The PPP while in the opposition used to criticize the PML-Q-led government in the previous assembly for resuming business of the house at least two hours behind the schedule due to quorum problem. But now when it is in power, the sessions begin with a delay of one-and-half to two hours as a routine.