August 12, 2008	Tuesday	Sha'aban 9, 1429

LAHORE, Aug 11: Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has said the adoption of resolution by the Punjab Assembly will “bury the dictatorship, Pervez Musharraf and his allies.”

Speaking after the adoption of the resolution at the Punjab Assembly, Mr Sharif said those who thought that the Article 58 2(B) could be used should realize that the present assemblies had full public mandate.

As the session began, Law Minister Rana Sanaullah requested the speaker to suspend the Punjab Assembly rules and allow the house to move a `very important’ resolution.

As the speaker received an approval from the house to move the resolution, Opposition Leader Chaudhry Zaheeruddin opposed the suspension of rules.

Opposition’s Yousaf Leghari said the assembly rules could be suspended only in case of an urgency. Saying that there was no such urgency in sight, he added that there was no need to suspend the PA rules and the resolution should be circulated among the members so that the opposition could also play its part in its “correct drafting”.

Speaker Rana Iqbal, however, responded that the house had the power to suspend the assembly rules.

Responding to the opposition observation regarding urgency to move the resolution, the law minister said the country was under the influence of a dictator. He said the people of Pakistan had voted in February 2008 elections for the promotion of democracy in the country but the President was busy in hatching conspiracies against democracy. “Is there any issue more urgent than to oust the President and bury the dictatorship?” he asked.

Following the presentation of the resolution, the opposition leader said the allegations levelled against Pervez Musharraf were vague. Admitting that Musharraf had violated the constitution twice, he added that his acts were validated by the Supreme Court of Pakistan. Responding to a charge that the President had derailed the democracy, he said Mr Musharraf had introduced one third seats for women in the Parliament and held general elections well within the timeframe.

Referring to the impeachment of the President, Mr Zaheer said the President had also introduced the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO), which was accepted by the present government members wholeheartedly. “I wish that the government had also mentioned the introduction of the NRO by Pervez Musharraf in the resolution,” he added.

Senior minister Raja Riaz said Mr Musharraf had made promises with the nation but did not fulfill them. Citing examples, he said, Musharraf did not fulfill his promise of shedding his uniform in December 2004. He said Musharraf also did not resign when his party (PML-Q) lost elections.The senior minister said Musharraf also made Shujaat Hussain prime minister and then got Shaukat Aziz elected as prime minister, who plundered the national exchequer.

As the speaker was ready to present the resolution in the house for voting, treasury’s Zulfiqar Khosa suggested that the chair should count votes for and against the resolution instead of relying on `yes’ and `no’. He said the vote counting would tell who were working for the promotion of democracy and who were working to protect a dictator.

Consequently, the speaker got the votes counted that showed that resolution had been adopted by 321 members, while only 25 were against it.

PML-Q’s Zobia Rubab Malik did not stand when opposition voted against the adoption of the resolution despite requests from her colleagues.

Earlier, newly-elected MPA Shahid Nazir Bhatti took oath at the beginning of the session.