LAHORE, Nov 14: While the proceedings of the Punjab Assembly on the first day of the last session of the third parliamentary year were rather boring, discussions in the cafeteria were quite lively. President Pervez Musharraf’s statement against grouping in the ruling PML and the issuance of passports to the Sharif family were the major subjects of discussion on various tables.

The ruling party members were happy that Gen Musharraf had given what they said a ‘shut-up’ call to those criticizing PML president Shujaat Husain. They believed that the president had “nipped the evil in the bud”, and now nobody would dare speak against the ruling party chief.

The president’s Sunday statement, they said, clearly meant that the general had thrown his weight behind the PML leadership after which grouping in the party would come to an end.

However, the opposition legislators were of the view that not much importance should be given to the president’s statement against the dissidents as his track record shows that the general may take a U-turn on any issue anytime. Some of them even recalled the issues on which the general had changed his opinion within no time. “The general’s statement will remain valid only till he issues his next,” said one of them.

As they were discussing the implications of the president’s statement, reports came in from Islamabad that the ‘forward bloc’ had chosen Farooq Amjad Mir as its spokesman. The group, however, decided to suspend its activities till the conclusion of the “donors conference”, due to be held on Nov 19.

“We think the party is not being run properly. We want to remedy the wrongs committed and being committed in the party,” said Farooq Amjad Mir.

He made it clear that the group was not opposed to any individual. Instead, it wanted to improve the working of the party and the system.

“We want to take the prime minister on board. After the donors conference, we, in the company of the prime minister, will try to meet President Musharraf to apprise him of our point of view,” said the former naib nazim.

“We are scores of people, much more than the people think of our strength,” said Amjad Mir while talking to this scribe.

While one would not disagree with the view that Gen Musharraf can change his point of view on any subject according to the requirements of the situation, Shujaat Husain and Pervaiz Elahi were very happy on Sunday after the chief minister’s two-hour meeting with the country’s most powerful man.

“We have the same wavelength,” said the chief minister, indicating that the PML leadership and the president had similar views on all issues.

The opposition parties, which were thinking of exploiting the intra-PML differences will now have to wait for some more time before devising their future course of action.

PML-N’s Dr Asad Ashraf was happy that the Sharifs had ultimately been issued passports. This had established that the Sharifs still had a role to play in the country’s politics, he said.

It appeared on Monday that the government and the ruling party would be able to resolve a controversy over the status of leaders of the parliamentary parties of the PPP, the PML-N and the MMA.

Law Minister Raja Basharat sought legal opinion from the Punjab advocate-general and the law secretary on the subject.

The minister was reportedly informed that the controversy could either be resolved through an amendment to the Constitution or a change to the Rule of Business.

The ruling party and the opposition have reportedly agreed to change the rules, which is an easier way out as the ruling party doesn’t have the required two-thirds majority to amend the Constitution.

PML-N leader Rana Sanaullah Khan said the rules could be amended in a single day.

Ostensibly, this means that Speaker Afzal Sahi was right in his assertion that there was no concept of the ‘parliamentary leader’ of a party and that he would not recognize Qasim Zia, Rana Sanaullah and Asghar Gujjar as parliamentary leaders of their respective parties unless a provision was made for the purpose.

It was because of this argument that there were tensions between the ruling party and the opposition. Maybe, the house will work more smoothly after the settlement of the controversy.

The speaker will be doing another good job by improving the sound system of the house, of which he is the custodian. The existing system is faulty, and one member of the house cannot hear the other even from a distance of three yards.

PPP’s Syed Nazim Ali Shah raised the point on Monday. But interestingly, he was told by the speaker that replacement of the sound system would cost Rs20 million. He said since a new assembly building would become functional in about a year, he would not like such a huge amount spent on replacing the sound system of the existing building.

It is probably a good decision. The house has to meet only for 70 days in a year, including the off days. And it will not be wise to spend Rs20 million just for 70 days.