President Xi Jinping’s address to the joint sitting of the Pakistan parliament last Tuesday will be remembered for many firsts. Three Chinese leaders have spoken to the Pakistani legislators before him but he was the first Chinese head of state to do so. Leaders of no other country have been so valued.

And when the first foreign dignitary to address the present parliament rose to speak, the world, not just the Pakistani nation, awaited what he had to say in the background of the turbulent geo-political situation in the region.

Before President Xi’s arrival in the National Assembly, however, people sitting in the galleries saw a rather unpleasant aspect of our domestic political culture - to be close and seen with the powerful.

On the occasion, Mrs Kalsoom Sharif, wife of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, became the beckoning personality for the woman parliamentarians of the ruling PML-N.

Read: Pakistan was with us when China stood isolated: Xi Jinping

Mrs Kalsoom was sitting in the VIP Gallery, with China’s First Lady Peng Liyuan, and the PML-N women looked itching in their seats in the hall for a meeting. After some hesitation - for reasons of protocol, security and parliament’s decorum, perhaps - a few of them eventually walked to the gallery to greet her. That broke the restraint for all and they made a beeline for a handshake with the lady.

Some male PML-N parliamentarians also seized the opportunity to greet Mrs Kalsoom who received all with a smile. But the rush to the gallery stirred the Chinese security agents momentarily as Ms Peng looked a bit surprised at the whole spectacle.

It may have been an unpleasant sight for the visitors but PML-N’s male parliamentarians seemed envious of their colleagues catching the eye of their leader’s spouse.

That remained the main show in the hall until President Xi walked in with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

Do the procedures and rules conduct of business in the august house allow such a show, particularly, when a foreign dignitary is to address it?

Rule 30 (O) deals with the conduct of the lawmakers in the house. It specifically says that a member shall not occupy a seat in the galleries nor while in the chamber engage himself in conversation with any visitor in a gallery.

Why then the National Assembly secretariat staff present in the house did not stop them violating a rule?

“If you talk of rules, this should be the practice,” responded a PML-N MP. “But, unfortunately, in our country rules are hardly observed. This is something the speaker’s office or Chairman Senate must brief their respective members before hand,” he said.

On a lighter note, a well-connected member of the ruling party said, “since we are not allowed to visit the prime minister’s office unless invited, it is natural to seize an opportunity to be noticed by our top leadership – that is members of the powerful Sharif family.”

And everyone in the party is aware of Mrs Kalsoom’s powerful stature in the PML-N, according to a party office bearer. Although, of late, Mrs Kalsoom is not seen much in public life, except during PM’s foreign trips, she actively participates in the party’s decision making sessions. After all she has had the experience of single-handedly confronting General Pervez Musharraf till the time Sharif family was packed off to Saudi Arabia in late 2000.

“It may be against the parliament’s rules, but it was unthinkable, particularly for our female members, to ignore the lady’s presence in their midst. This is how members of the powerful political families are treated,” said a PML-N lawmaker, recalling how former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gillani had walked to greet Bilawal Zardari Bhutto and his siblings in the visitors’ gallery immediate after receiving vote of confidence.

One can only hope that personality cult in Pakistani politics is done with for the sake of true democracy.

Published in Dawn, April 24th, 2015

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