LAHORE, Sept 16: PPP MPA Samiullah Khan was sitting in the opposition leader’s chamber, complaining that the treasury benches had said farewell to all healthy parliamentary traditions. Opposition lawmakers staged a walkout on Friday, but no minister or treasury member bothered to persuade the protesters to return to the house, he said.

When he was expressing these views, Law Minister Raja Basharat was ‘patrolling’ the lobbies, urging his treasury colleagues to stop exchanging pleasantries and instead go to the house to complete the quorum. The MPs started going back one after the other and then the chair ordered a head count.

As the chair announced that the house was in quorum and the proceedings could resume, Samiullah realized that the opposition had become redundant and irrelevant for the day’s proceedings.

“The vehicle of democracy runs on two wheels — the government and the opposition,” he said highlighting the importance of the opposition in a democratic system.

But, he regretted, the rulers were trying to run the system without the opposition. “This is called one-wheeling”, cut in another man present in the opposition chamber.

“Well put”, said the PPP leader, smiling, and forgetting for a moment the importance of the opposition he was referring to.

Yet another man joined in the discourse, asking: “Have you ever thought about the perils of one-wheeling? Do you know how many people have been killed enjoying one-wheeling?”

Everybody present there agreed that it was a dangerous sport, be it on the road or in the assembly.

Some one else present there said if the opposition was not given its due importance, the rulers tended to become dictators, and dictatorship always led to dangerous consequences. He recalled even the history of some dictatorial periods.

Few believed that the ruling party would take the other ‘wheel’ along.

People present in another room were also cursing the government. For a moment, one got the impression as if the government had called the session only to provide the opposition parties an opportunity to exchange views on why the ruling party was doing what it was doing.

They discussed why the ruling party leaders were offering baits to the opposition lawmakers and office-bearers to change loyalties when they already had a two-third majority in the house. They found no justification for the government to make offers to the opposition MPs in return for changing loyalties.

Some alleged that the ruling party was promoting opportunism. Others feared that time was fast approaching when only the ruling party would be left in the ring and all other parties would become non-entities.

“Do you mean we are heading towards a one-party system,” asked one. “Most certainly,” replied the other. “This will be disastrous,” another MP apprehended.

The lawmakers also discussed for a while the role leaders and parties should play to bring an end to defections.

“If the MQM’s Altaf Husain can run his party from London, why can’t leaders of other parties do the same?” asked someone who had nothing to do with politics.

Most of those present thought that the exiled leaders were doing whatever they could to strengthen their parties.

One MP was of the view that the situation was not very encouraging even in the ruling party. When the government offers various offices to new entrants, the people without any office but a long association with the party feel discouraged. Thus, he argued, the pent-up anger of such people would come to surface one day.

The agreement for the ruling coalition’s candidates for Okara district, announced by the chief minister on Thursday night, was one of the subjects of discussion in the lobbies. “Your leader, the defence minister, has surrendered to the chief minister,” someone taunted a leader from the PPP-Patriots.

“Leader he never was,” replied the Patriot lawmaker.

Some others said the agreement on Okara had established who enjoyed the support of the powers that be. It was an obvious reference to Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi.