ISLAMABAD: The prevailing political crisis has frayed nearly everyone’s nerves, so much so that parliamentarians and politicians known for their tact and diplomacy are quite literally at each other’s throats.

At least this is what can be inferred from certain incidents witnessed on the floor of the National Assembly on Wednesday.

In the session dominated by the presence of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf MNAs, ugly scenes were witnessed following Speaker Ayaz Sadiq’s announcement of a 20-minute break for Zuhr prayers.

However, PTI parliamentary leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi objected, asking why the speaker had called for a break today when Tuesday’s proceedings were held uninterrupted. He complained to the leader of the opposition, Syed Khursheed Shah, who had earlier asked treasury benches to allow Mr Qureshi to address the house.

Shah Mehmood Qureshi accosted by two ruling party lawmakers

As he was arguing his point, Sheikh Rohail Asghar, a ruling party lawmaker from Lahore, walked up to Mr Qureshi and passed a comment that drew a sharp reaction from the PTI leader.

While journalists in the press gallery were too far away to overhear the content of the exchange, it was obvious that Mr Qureshi was deeply offended by the lawmaker’s snide comment and asked him to refrain from passing comments – but not in such polite terms.

A heated exchange followed, accentuated by much finger pointing and outrage, which was broken up upon the intervention of Pakistan People’s Party leader Naveed Qamar and Mr Shah.

Still reeling from this unpleasant exchange, Mr Qureshi was speaking to PPP leaders and other opposition lawmakers who had surrounded him when Science and Technology Minister Zahid Hamid walked up to him.

Again, the exchange was inaudible to reporters in the gallery, but the minister’s remark obviously touched a nerve, because Mr Qureshi’s response was heard by nearly everyone in the house.

“Mr Hamid, you are more than welcome to say whatever you wish, but be prepared for my answer – particularly about your role as General Pervez Musharraf’s law minister when he imposed emergency in the country,” he roared.

Not content with what he had already revealed, Mr Qureshi continued, saying, “I know your worth and I’ll tell the whole country you served a dictator and are now pretending to champion the cause of democracy.”

This appeared to infuriate Mr Hamid, who is a key member of the current federal cabinet. As flabbergasted members looked on, Mr Hamid made a lunge towards the PTI leader and both nearly came to blows. Thankfully, an altercation was averted by other MNAs who were on hand at the time.

One of those lawmakers later told Dawn that the ruling party legislators were teasing Mr Qureshi, chiding him for playing into the hands of the military and accusing him of being Imran Khan’s “pawn”.

Despite repeated attempts, none of the three men could be reached for comment.

Towards the fag-end of Wednesday’s proceedings, the opposition leader had to get involved again when, in his speech on the floor of the house, Maulana Fazlur Rehman criticised the speaker for allowed Mr Qureshi to address parliament despite the fact that he had resigned from the house.

Mr Shah, taking exception to what he called the cleric’s “double standards”, called out the chief of his own faction of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam.

“On Tuesday, the whole house – yourself included – welcomed Javed Hashmi in the house despite the fact that he had also resigned. Now today, you are rallying against Mr Qureshi for wishing to do the same,” Mr Shah maintained.

The cleric’s discomfort was obvious when Mr Shah continued, saying that he should stop working against the interests of the prime minister because “what you are saying will only create more problems for the government”.

Earlier, in his speech, Fazlur Rehman had also urged the speaker to accept the PTI lawmakers’ resignations. Perhaps it was this unwelcoming attitude which prompted Mr Qureshi, immediately after having completed his speech, to promptly lead all PTI MNAs out of the house.

Indeed, the behaviour of the treasury benches on Wednesday was quite unbecoming, even prompting the speaker to observe at one point, “this is not D-Chowk,” in a bid to silence the rowdy legislators.

Published in Dawn, September 4th, 2014