ISLAMABAD: The government faced embarrassment in the National Assembly again on Monday when it failed to ensure a quorum for the fifth consecutive day.

The lack of the required 86-member quorum in the 342-seat house was pointed out by Syed Ghulam Mustafa, a Pakistan Peoples Party MNA from Shaheed Benazirabad, even before the start of the question hour. As little as 50 members were present in the assembly hall at the time.

Deputy Speaker Murtaza Javed Abbasi initially suspended the proceedings for a few minutes, but after the secretariat staff confirmed that a quorum was not present, he adjourned the sitting until Tuesday morning without taking up any item on the 12-point agenda.

Under the rules, the house can still carry out the proceedings even without a quorum, if not pointed out by any member. The rule is often used by the opposition parties as a mark of protest on any issue and to embarrass the government, as it is the primary responsibility of the ruling party to ensure a quorum during a regular session of parliament.

When Mr Mustafa pointed out the lack of a quorum, only three federal ministers were sitting on the front treasury benches, indicating that most cabinet members had not taken seriously the warnings repeatedly issued by Speaker Ayaz Sadiq.

On Wednesday, the speaker got infuriated when he found that written answers of most of the questions had not been given by the ministries concerned, and that a number of key ministers were absent.

At one point when Leader of the Opposition Syed Khursheed Shah drew the speaker’s attention to the empty treasury benches, Mr Sadiq even stated that he could allow a vote against the government if things did not improve.

On Friday, the government had to face a double embarrassment as the lack of a quorum had been pointed out by one of its allies and the chief of the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party, Mahmood Khan Achakzai.

As a result, the government failed to get the crucial Right to Information Bill passed from the house in that session, and the speaker had to adjourn the proceedings when he was about to seek clause-by-clause approval of the bill.

The bill was again on the agenda of the National Assembly on Monday. Another important item on the agenda was to discuss the “atrocities being committed against Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar”.

The speaker allowed discussion on the issue on the opening day of the current session on Sept 11, when a number of members, mostly from the opposition parties, raised a hue and cry over the brutalities against Rohingya Muslims and forced the speaker to allow a full-fledged debate on the matter after adjourning the normal business of the house.

Some members did deliver emotional speeches on that day, but since then no one has even made any mention of the issue.

Published in Dawn, September 19th, 2017