ISLAMABAD, Sept 10: The government faced another embarrassing day in the National Assembly on Saturday when Speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain had to adjourn the sitting without taking up a single item on the agenda due to lack of quorum.

Earlier, People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPP) MNA Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan and a treasury MNA belonging to the Pakistan Muslim League-Functional (PML-F) Khurshid Afghan, speaking on points of order during the 30-minute sitting, expressed fears that a conspiracy was being hatched to prepare the ground for the dissolution of parliament.

In a hard-hitting speech, PPP MNA Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan criticized the government for running the house only for three days a week. “If the government has no business to do in the house, then why is it not taking up the opposition’s agenda which has been accumulating dust in the speaker’s chamber?” he asked.

“It seems that efforts have been launched to replace the parliamentary form of government with the presidential system,” the PPP MNA said. “Plans are ready and speeches have already been written.” Mr Ahsan said that parliament had become something of a joke because the quorum issue had been pointed out more than 330 times in the last two-and-a-half years and yet things hadn’t improved. He said it was unfair of the members to work for three days and get paid for the whole week.

“Look at the seriousness of the treasury members in running the house,” said the PPP MNA, signalling towards the empty treasury benches. Noting that only four or five ministers were present in the house, he said that the speaker ought to use his powers to ensure that more ministers attend assembly sessions regularly.

Ruling party MNA Khurshid Afghan said the president could take any step to decide the fate of parliament if the house continued to be run in the same manner. The lawmaker claimed that a conspiracy was being hatched against Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz as the quorum problem had become acute after he assumed office.

Speaking on a point of order, Minister of State for Local Government and Rural Development Chaudhry Zafar Iqbal Warraich said it was the collective responsibility of both the government and the opposition to maintain quorum.

Raja Pervez Ashraf of the PPP said it was only the government’s responsibility to maintain quorum. He then asked the speaker to order a head count. The speaker ordered the ringing of bells for five minutes and had to adjourn the house as only 78 members were present in the 342-member house against the requirement of 86 members to meet the quorum.

The National Assembly will now meet on Tuesday (Sept 13) at 7pm.