A NUMBER of fires were instigated and many houses burnt in the simmering land of Punjab in recent days. None too insignificantly, a hapless Speaker Rana Iqbal sat watching as his own grand House remained engulfed in flames of a different variety following the targeting of two PML-Q members of the assemblies by power rioters. The term ‘invective’ falls way short of capturing the essence of the ‘debate’ inside the Punjab Assembly where Rana Iqbal was ineffective in restoring some kind of order to the proceedings. If the speaker had moved swiftly, he may have prevented shoes, expletives and punches from flying around. Given the frequency with which this slinging game has been played in the Punjab Assembly, Rana Iqbal appears either too decent or too meek a man to be shepherding the current violent lot of MPAs.

The reality is that some of these rowdy episodes are predicted by assembly watchers much in advance. There is a feeling that politicians sitting in positions more responsible than the Punjab Assembly speaker have time and again failed this test in democracy, a system they swear by like parrots. In a country where politics is a centralised affair tightly controlled by individuals at the top of a party, the blame for such hooliganism as was witnessed in the Punjab Assembly last week must lie at the door of the heads of the parties that are represented in the assemblies. These ‘supremos’, as the term goes, have a greater role in ensuring a purposeful debate than would a party leader in a better-functioning democracy where codes of ethics have evolved to the satisfaction of most. It is said that practice will improve the conduct of the MPs in Pakistan. Until that happens, the lack of clear direction from the top to these oft-quarrelling lawmakers will feed suspicion that the routine ugly assembly scenes are more by design than by accident. The lawmakers are strongly suspected of employing these antics to get closer to the ‘supremos’. The accusers are vindicated when the ‘supremos’ select the filthiest tongues around for the duties of acting as their spokespersons.