QUETTA: Members of the Balochistan Assembly said on Friday evening that they would allow four suspended MPAs of the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) to attend the budget session on the condition that they apologise to Shahida Rauf on the floor of the house.

Ms Rauf had, on the demand of Chief Minister Abdul Quddus Bizenjo and the majority of the members of the Balochistan Assembly, suspended the memberships of the four PkMAP MPAs for using abusive language during the session on Thursday.

The four MPAs — Syed Agha Liaquat, Sardar Mustafa Tareen, Babar Lala and Nasrullah Zerey — had not only misbehaved with Ms Rauf, who was presiding over the session in the absence of Speaker Raheela Durrani, but had also manhandled the sergeant at arms when the chairperson ordered them to be escorted out of the house.

Ms Rauf had suspended their membership in the aftermath; however, she has now decided to allow them back into the assembly. “I forgive them for using foul language against me,” she said.

However, the chief minister and most of the members in the house had asked that the PkMAP members be penalised for their behaviour.

During Friday’s session, the opposition and parliamentary leader of the PkMAP Abdul Rahim Ziaratwal apologised on his party’s behalf to Speaker Durrani upon her return to chair the session. “The incident that took place was against the decorum and sanctity of the house. I apologise for it and request the chair to allow the suspended members to participate in the session.”

Dr Hamid Khan Achakzai of the PkMAP also expressed his disappointment over the attitude of his fellow party members and said that he was also willing to apologise on behalf of the suspended members of his party. He too requested the speaker to allow the members to take part in the budget session.

CM Bizenjo took the floor and said that the four opposition members had crossed all limits of decency during the proceedings. He added that the Balochistan assembly had a great tradition of respect, which must be upheld at all costs.

“The opposition has the right to protest. We exercised that right ourselves when we were in their position over the fact that we had not received a single penny form the coalition government at the time. But these four members have brought shame to us all,” said the chief minister.

He said that he had himself suggested to the speaker to allow the suspended members back into the assembly to take part in the budget session if they were ready to apologise on the floor of the house. Sardar Aslam Bizenjo of the National Party also condemned the PkMAP members and said that women in the Baloch tribal society commanded a lot of respect.

Yasmin Lehri of the National Party also said that it was a shameful act on the part of the PkMAP members. She said that she had never seen something so ugly and disrespectful happen before.

Speaker Durrani said: “I have been running provincial assembly affairs for more than two years. Being a woman I have always been treated with respect by the honourable members. But the incident on Thursday must be condemned by everyone because a woman penal of the chairman was treated in such an uncouth manner.”

All members in the assembly during the session unanimously agreed that the four members must apologise to Ms Rauf if they wanted to retain their membership.

Published in Dawn, May 20th, 2018