ISLAMABAD, Oct 15: A privilege motion moved by Federal Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Dr Sher Afgan against some opposition members on Friday exposed the fissures in the ruling coalition as treasury members, including former prime minister Zafarullah Jamali, opposed the move.
Federal Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Dr Sher Afgan faced an embarrassing situation when his own coalition partners opposed his privilege motion against the opposition members for creating rumpus in the house during the assembly proceedings on Thursday.
As soon as the opposition members staged a walkout, Dr Sher Afgan moved the privilege motion seeking action against the opposition members for shouting at the speaker, breaking his mike and pushing down the speaker's chair during their protest against the passage of the bill on Gen Musharraf's uniform.
Interestingly, all treasury members, who spoke on the occasion, opposed Dr Sher Afgan's move and termed it unnecessary exposing the fact that the decision to move the privilege motion was an individual decision of the minister.
However, despite the opposition by the members, deputy speaker Sardar Yaqoob Khan admitted the question of privilege but deferred the motion from sending it to the privileges committee.
Speaking on the motion, Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali said the government should not take the matter to the privileges committee and try to settle the issue through dialogue.
He said it was not for the first time that the opposition had registered their protest in the same way. Mr Jamali asked the speaker to use his powers in order to run the house proceedings smoothly.
"The speaker has special powers to settle certain matters. He can even call the sergeant-at-arm for his help," he added. He was of the view that if the matter was referred to the committee then the situation could become more serious.
He said the speaker should invite the opposition leaders to his chamber and try to resolve the matter through negotiation. Supporting Mr Jamali, another ruling party MNA M.P. Bhandara said treasury members should take opposition members with them on important decisions.
Riaz Hussain Pirzada also opposed the idea of sending the matter to the privileges committee and asked the speaker to play his role in resolving the issue. Minister of State for Local Government and Rural Development Zafar Iqbal Warraich said this privilege motion would send a wrong message to the protesting opposition members and the outside world and there was no need for it.
Public Accounts Committee Chairman Malik Allahyar said it was true that the behaviour of the opposition members was improper but the parliamentary affairs minister should not press for his privilege motion. Kashmala Tariq also expressed the same feelings.
Earlier, moving his privilege motion, Dr Sher Afgan said: "The behaviour of the opposition is tantamount to breach of privilege and contempt of the house and it should be sent to the privileges committee."
He said the opposition had crossed the limits by shouting at the speaker, breaking the mike and pushing down his chair. "This is grave violation of rules of procedure and conduct of business and if this situation continues, the house could not be run smoothly," the minister said.