ISLAMABAD: Despite being embarrassed twice over its failure to ensure quorum, the government on Wednesday ignored two opposition walkouts in a bid to bulldoze a new law on inquiry commissions through the National Assembly.

Just a day after the entire opposition joined hands with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) to ensure the passage of the 23rd amendment to reactivate military courts, politicking in the lower house returned to the lowest common denominator — the rule of the majority — as the ruling party took full advantage of its numbers to drown out the opposition.

But it was not all smooth sailing for the government as first blood went to Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Syed Khurshid Shah. He assailed the treasury on several fronts: the decline in the country’s exports, the unjust distribution of water resources among provinces, the lack of development spending in south Punjab and the racial profiling of Pakhtuns.

But his primary thrust remained the sanctity of the federation and the government’s attitude towards parliament. “[Your] prime minister says he has learnt a lot from history. Khaak seekha hai? Why, then, are you so fed up with this parliament?”

Opposition leader warns PML-N not to disrespect federation and parliament; two walkouts, suspensions fail to deter treasury

Without waiting for anyone to respond, the opposition leader announced a walkout as he wrapped up his diatribe. While the opposition benches were emptying, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) whip Aijaz Jhakrani pointed out a lack of quorum. Proceedings remained suspended for over 30 minutes as the treasury scrambled to fill seats.

When the sitting resumed, Deputy Speaker Murtaza Javed Abbasi called on the parliamentary secretary for finance to move the Public-Private Partnership Authority Bill 2017. But when he tried to club all 28 clauses rather than going for a clause-by-clause reading, PPP’s Naveed Qamar warned the deputy speaker not to “try and bulldoze the bill”.

This ushered in a brief detente, which came apart when Mr Abbasi denied Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s (PTI) Shireen Mazari the opportunity to voice her concerns regarding certain clauses. This proved too much for the opposition, which began to agitate while the bill was being passed.

The din was largely ignored by the treasury benches, leading PTI’s Shah Mehmood Qureshi to remark how quickly the government had forgotten their support in passing the military courts amendment just a day earlier.

The deputy speaker also paid no heed to PTI’s Mussarrat Ahmed Zeb, who rose in her seat to point out quorum during the reading of the bill. While she was perfectly audible from the press galleries, it was at least 15 minutes before she was handed the mic by Mr Abbasi.

This second interruption seemed to catch the government off guard. It was clear that the treasury did not have the required numbers for quorum, and despite support from five Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) legislators, the government side was still short of the 86-mark in the 342-member house.

Ministers Zahid Hamid, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Sheikh Aftab, Riaz Pirzada and Abdul Qadir Baloch could be seen frantically urging more members to show up. Mr Hamid, in particular, appeared incensed by the delay and could be heard exclaiming that they were short just one member.

All this time — maybe 15 minutes or more — Mussarrat Zeb remained on her feet, repeatedly asking the chair if they wanted to keep waiting for more people to show up. The house was then suspended again to allow for more members to arrive.

In time, ministers Baleeghur Rehman and Sardar Yousaf made their way to the house, while more government members streamed in from the galleries. In the intervals, PML-N wits Rana Mohammad Hayat Khan and Mian Abdul Mannan kept spirits up by hurling friendly taunts at fellow members and the ministers trying to ensure maximum attendance.

Then, around 35 minutes after Ms Zeb pointed out a lack of quorum, the deputy speaker walked in without his robe, with Sardar Ayaz Sadiq on his heels.

With quorum requirements met and the seasoned speaker at the helm, the government scythed through the remaining agenda, passing the Pakistan Commissions of Inquiry Act 2017 in no time and proroguing the sitting sine die.

The bill was introduced by the PML-N after then chief justice of Pakistan Anwar Zaheer Jamali refused to form a “toothless” inquiry commission on Panamagate under the erstwhile Pakistan Commission of Inquiry Act 1956.

The bill, which has already been passed by the National Assembly once, came back to the lower house after the Senate made certain amendments to it, binding the government to make public the report of any commission constituted under the law. It now merely needs the president’s signature to become law.

Published in Dawn, March 23rd, 2017