LAHORE: Opposition in the Punjab Assembly on Monday staged a walkout in protest against the government’s new norm of doing legislation without even sharing the draft law with the members.

When Speaker Sibtain Khan suspended relevant rules of procedure to take up two bills, which were not on the order of the day, the Opposition members demanded copies of the proposed bills, particularly the Punjab Public Financial Management Bill 2022.

The House passed the financial management bill, as well as the Layyah University Bill 2022, amid walkout by the PML-N and PPP lawmakers over not distributing their copies among the members (as well as the Press Gallery).

The chair suspended the proceedings until the provision of the bills’ copies to the members.

The House also adopted a resolution tabled by the ruling PTI’s Shamoana Bashir, condemning alleged misbehavior of the Sindh police with the party leader Haleem Adil Sheikh, who is also Opposition leader in the Sindh Assembly.

The resolution demanded an end to police raids on Mr Sheikh’s residence and withdrawal of all cases registered against him by Sindh police. The speaker later put off the proceedings for Dec 5, 2022.

Published in Dawn, November 22nd, 2022