LAHORE: The Punjab Assembly on Thursday at the outset broke into pandemonium as the treasury and opposition traded fiery comments and even the custodian of the House was not spared.

Almost evenly represented House saw aggressive stance by the opposition which chided the Speaker and countered every satirical and even below the belt comments by the treasury members. At times, the Speaker had to expunge comments from the proceedings.

As Pervaiz Elahi was announcing Question Hour, PML-N’s Azma Bukhari stood up and chided the Speaker for being partial as she referred his statements given outside the assembly.

Mr Elahi expressed his displeasure and asked her to behave and let the House proceedings move on since the session was requisitioned by the opposition. The Speaker eventually directed the assembly staff to close her mike as Ms Bukhari said: “I will be forced to do some other things, if I am not allowed to speak.”

Law Minister Basharat Raja also stood up and reprimanded the opposition for not sticking to the decisions taken in the advisory council meeting. “Since opposition has requisitioned the session, it is the responsibility of the opposition to carry forward the House proceedings,” he said.

Information minister Fayyaz-ul-Hassan Chohan stood in solidarity with the Speaker saying nobody could be allowed to challenge the sanctity of the office of the Speaker. He said the House had elected the Speaker with members’ votes and reminded the PML-N of its favourite slogan “Vote ko Izzat do”.

Opposition Leader Hamza Shahbaz intervened and requested the Speaker to let the House proceed as decided in the advisory council. PML-N MPA Samiullah stood up and commented about Speaker, “You are not bearing even a comment”. The Speaker shot back saying, “I was even bearing dance on the staff desks in the House”.

Samiullah’s wife Ms Azma took Speaker’s comment as a personal attack and chided the Speaker for “stooping too low”. Samiullah wound up the war of words saying the dance comment was for the PTI MPAs.

Mr Chohan also asked the opposition leader to teach etiquette to his parliamentary team.

The Question Hour began with a lone question put up to the industries, commerce and investment minister Mian Aslam Iqbal. Mr Iqbal lambasted the former PML-N government for ruining every department in the province. Answering a question that industry could not be set up on agricultural land, the furious minister asked where the PML-N government established Sahiwal Coal Power Plant – is that not agricultural land. “You spoiled the whole of Sahiwal,” he commented.

Mr Iqbal also made a comment about the health minister, prompting Hamza to say the House should uphold the respect and honour of women members sitting there. He acknowledged Speaker’s concerns that there should not be personal attacks on the custodian of the House.

Resuming the Question Hour, MPA Muhammad Muawia asked a supplementary question on diagnostic and healthcare facilities in DHQ hospital, Jhang.

Health minister Dr Yasmin Rashid acknowledged that the tehsil headquarters hospitals were acting as referral facilities until now and the health department had notified that no patient would be referred to tertiary care hospital until the consultant would write a valid reason for referral. Now, she said, action would be taken against the delinquent consultants.

She said the health department had also completed homework to post newly recruited doctors and nurses across the province – after the Oct 14 by-elections in the province.

Later, the Speaker invited law minister Basharat Raja for his opening statement as the House began debate on law and order.

Mr Raja said the law and order remained under control though scores of political and religious parties’ demonstrations and rallies were held across the province. He said the Police Reforms Commission had started working to offer better policing services to the people of Punjab. He said the Safe City Project would be replicated in other cities beginning with the divisional headquarters.

The law minister said crime control committees were being revived.

Hamza acknowledged that the incumbent government had appreciated the Safe City Project and hinted at replicating it in other cities. He said the PML-N government also did not close down the good initiative of Rescue 1122 and instead spread it across the province.

The House offered fateha for the late Kulsoom Nawaz Sharif, Ghulam Abbas Khaki (MPA) and an MPA’s father.

The Speaker prorogued the session for an indefinite period.

Published in Dawn, October 5th, 2018