LAHORE, Oct 24: The opposition MPAs in the Punjab Assembly continued on Friday brief boycott of the session to mark their protest against the LFO.
They walked out of the house in the beginning of the session, which started 45 minutes late than its scheduled time of 9am. Unlike the previous days, there was no slogan-raising against the controversial LFO and the president.
The walkout was announced by PML’s Rana Sanaullah Khan, who rose on a point of order to say that the LFO was a ploy to harm democracy, “but we will continue our struggle against it.”
He said Pakistan was created through a democratic process that guaranteed welfare of the country and its people. But, during the past 55 years, the adventurists had been controlling democracy through different ways like “basic, non-party and grass-root democracy.”
He said the protest would continue till the “awakening of the conscience of those supporting the dictators.” The president alone was ruling the country, he said.
The members of the opposition returned to the house on the request of the forest minister deputed for the purpose by the speaker.
MPAs’ WEAPON LICENCES: Law Minister Raja Basharat agreed to an objection raised by PPP’s Rana Aftab about the police report for the armed licences of the MPAs. He said he would take up the matter with the home department.
PRIVILEGE MOTIONS: The speaker kept pending privilege motions by Rana Sanaullah Khan, and three other opposition members, while referred another by PML’s Ajasam to the privilege committee. A motion by Sheikh Amjad Aziz was disposed of.
Rana Sanaullah’s motion was about Agriculture Minister Arshad Lodhi, who had earlier quoted the Quaid-i-Azam as having said in Faisalabad that he would make the country green. This was challenged by the Rana, and the motion was kept pending because of the absence of the minister.
Mr Ajasam tabled a motion about the alleged misbehaviour of Wasa’s Managing Director (Lahore) Inam Qadir, whom he had contacted for the cleaning of some drains in his constituency.
It was accepted because the law minister did not oppose it, and PML-N MPA Nasim Kanwal supported it. Raja Basharat also promised early cleaning of the drains.
The joint motion by Ajasam, Mujtaba Shujaur Rahman and Kamran Michael was kept pending after much debate when the law minister said the related issue was being dealt with by the Lahore High Court.
The MPAs had complained about the registration of a sedition case against them when they were campaigning for their candidate contesting election to the seat of the Ravi Town Nazim.
Sheikh Amjad did not press for his motion about misbehaviour of a police post in-charge of his constituency when the law minister and the speaker pledged an action against him.
He, nevertheless, mentioned that the law minister had done the needful when informed of a dacoity in the Sheikhupura’s residence of his brother on Thursday. “But when I reached there in the afternoon, I was told that the television set which the dacoits had left had been taken away by the police,” he said.