LAHORE: To the embarrassment of the treasury, the Punjab Assembly session was adjourned due to a lack of quorum on Monday. The proceedings were marred by protests, heated exchanges between treasury and opposition members, and a boycott by press gallery members over, what they termed, anti-media and derogatory remarks by an opposition lawmaker.

The session, presided over by the Panel of Chairmen Samiullah Khan, began amid strong protests from both government and opposition members over the absence of secretaries of relevant departments during the Question Hour.

The House was to take up written queries about Literacy and Non-Formal Basic Education and Human Rights and Minorities’ Affairs departments.

Taking notice of the situation, the chair directed that in future, only secretaries or special secretaries would be authorised to sit in the official gallery (and feed the relevant minister or parliamentary secretary in responding to supplementary questions), clarifying that section officers would not be accepted.

Parliamentary secretary denies claim; session adjourned over quorum

Tensions escalated when PTI MPA retired Col Shoaib Aamir made remarks deemed insulting to the media. In response, the parliamentary reporters staged a boycott from the press gallery and demanded a public apology from the lawmaker.

Addressing the House, Aamir acknowledged past excesses but said the current situation was far worse. He stressed that the office of the Speaker must remain neutral and criticised the Speaker’s press conference earlier held in the day as inappropriate. He also condemned the treatment meted out to the chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from the assembly gate to the House, saying Punjab’s tradition of hospitality should have been upheld.

Law Minister Sohaib Bharath, responding to the objections, rejected the opposition’s claim that the KP CM was denied protocol. He said the KP CM was provided with security through five Elite Force vehicles and was allowed to meet the public and take photographs after security personnel were pulled back at various points. He added that the KP CM himself praised Lahore, its illumination and security arrangements.

On provincial affairs, treasury MPA Ahsan Raza expressed concerns at the literacy situation, claiming that nearly 50m people in Punjab were illiterate. He urged the government to expand rather than shut down the Literacy and Non-Formal Basic Education Department, citing literacy rates of 86pc in Indian Punjab and 52pc in Afghanistan.

Parliamentary Secretary Naveed Ashraf informed the House that 20,273 non-formal schools were operating across the province under the literacy department with over 680,000 students enrolled. He said Punjab’s overall literacy rate had reached 66pc and that free education up to the primary level was being provided in line with the Punjab Textbook Board syllabus.

The session witnessed an exchange of harsh words between opposition member Ijaz Shafi and the chair. Ijaz Shafi pointed out a lack of quorum in the House, making the chair adjourn the proceedings for Tuesday morning after the treasury failed to assemble at least 94 MPAs in the house.

Published in Dawn, December 30th, 2025