LAHORE: The Punjab Assembly session erupted into chaos on Monday as the provincial government faced a scathing rebellion from within its own ranks, with PPP lawmaker Mumtaz Chang threatening to push for a separate Seraiki province and form an independent government if the grievances of his constituency continued to be ignored.

This ultimatum served as the focal point of a heated session where the deputy speaker and treasury members engaged in bitter shouting matches over, what they termed, neglect of south Punjab and the monopolisation of floor time.

The tension began during a contentious Question Hour focused on the Department of Youth Affairs and Sports where Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmed Khan himself joined the chorus of criticism against the provincial bureaucracy. The Speaker demanded legal justification for the conversion of the parking lot of the Shaheen Football Stadium, Toba Tek Singh, into a Sahulat Bazaar, noting that it was nonsensical for the government to invest millions in sports infrastructure only to allow it to be swallowed by commercial interests.

Treasury MPA Amjad Ali Javed supported this, lamenting that basketball had effectively died in Toba Tek Singh because its grounds no longer existed while opposition member Nadeem Qureshi accused the department of running sports activities solely on paper. He argued that the lack of “sports nurseries” was the reason Pakistani athletes’ struggle in international fixtures despite their performance in domestic leagues like the PSL.

Opposition accuses speaker of blocking debate on wheat

Defending the government, Parliamentary Secretary Anas Mahmood insisted that 18 sports schemes were active in the Multan division and that the province was launching the “Khelta Punjab” card to provide stipends and facilities to 5,000 athletes. He clarified that, despite social media debates regarding mixed-gender exercise spaces, the government maintained a policy of separate timings for men and women in all official gymnasiums.

The session was also marred by external political friction as opposition member Sardar Muhammad Khan mocked the PPP’s role in recent international negotiations, suggesting they were relegated to the role of a “tea boy” by the PML-N leadership.

This sparked further fury from Mumtaz Chang who maintained that the PPP remained in the coalition only due to leadership directives but warned that their patience regarding public issues, such as the deteriorating security in the “Katcha” areas and the lack of local stadiums, was wearing thin.

Simultaneously, the opposition held a press conference outside the chamber to highlight a mounting wheat crisis, accusing the Speaker of deliberately blocking a debate on the plight of farmers.

Mian Ejaz Shafi and Sardar Muhammad Ali claimed that the government’s failure to regulate procurement has left farmers at the mercy of mafias, with production costs now exceeding the market rate.

Despite the opposition twice pointing out a lack of quorum and staging protests over rejected amendments, the treasury managed to flex its legislative muscle, successfully passing the Provincial Employees Social Security Amendment Bill 2026 and the Punjab Infrastructure Development Cess Amendment Bill 2026, along with legislation establishing the Chenab University of Science and Technology in Rahim Yar Khan.

The proceedings were put off for Tuesday afternoon as the treasury failed to maintain the quorum when a lack of it was pointed out for the third time by the opposition.

Published in Dawn, May 5th, 2026