QUETTA: Speaker Raheela Hamid Durrani on Monday adjourned the Balochistan Assembly session till Thursday following lack of quorum.

The session commenced with a delay of about half an hour. Then Nasrullah Zeeray of the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party pointed out the lack of quorum.

The speaker rang the assembly bells, calling the legislators to have their seats. After waiting for 15 minutes, she adjourned the proceedings till April 19.

Opposition parties slammed the government for its non-serious attitude towards provincial affairs.

“Assembly is not being run under democratic rules and the provincial government is not showing sincerity towards opposition’s grievances,” Abdul Rahim Ziaratwal, former chief minister Dr Abdul Malik Baloch, Mustafa Tareen, Dr Hamid Achakzai, Rehmat Saleh Baloch, Haji Islam and other opposition leaders said at a joint press conference.

Opposition slams govt for ‘non-serious’ attitude towards provincial affairs

“Since the new government took over, no one from the treasury is attending the assembly proceedings and the speaker adjourned various sessions due to lack of quorum,” Mr Ziaratwal said.

Dr Baloch said if the parliament was supreme then it should be treated with respect.

“When I was the chief minister, I was the first who entered the assembly because it was my responsibility to respond to opposition questions.”

He said despite full support of the opposition to the government, the law and order situation in Quetta, Awaran and other parts of the province was getting worse.

“We aren’t fond of boycotting assembly proceedings, but those sitting on treasury benches should show seriousness towards the provincial affairs,” he added.

The opposition parties condemned recent attacks on members of the Christian community.

Published in Dawn, Aprill 17th, 2018