Ruling coalition faces quorum problem

The ruling coalition faced embarrassment again on Monday as for about 90 minutes it failed to gather 86 members to ensure quorum in National Assembly.
The opposition disputed the counting held twice, insisting that 82 and 84 legislators, respectively, were present in the House.
Moments after the recitation from the Holy Quran, MMA member Hanif Abbasi pointed out lack of quorum and Speaker Amir Hussain suspended business till the House was in order. At that time, some two dozen members were inside the Assembly.
However, it took the ruling coalition almost 90 minutes to ensure presence of minimum number of members.
Insiders told Business Recorder that the departure of ruling PML President Shujaat Hussain abroad could bring in more problems for the ruling coalition vis-à-vis the quorum.
"Scores of PML MNAs were upset over being left out in the formation of the Cabinet and, more importantly, over making of Shaukat Aziz as Prime Minister," they said.
Chief whip Nasrullah Dareshak and Minister Niazi anxiously snaked through the seats to count the members and waited for more members to come to complete the quorum.
Lack of quorum saga has marred over half a dozen sittings of the 342-member House. The ruling coalition comprises around 193 members in the House. Pakistan Awami Tehrik Chief Allama Tahirul Qadri resigned last week, serving a blow to the government, as he was their ally.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sher Afgan Niazi proposed that the chair should serve notice on Khawaja Asif of PML (N) for contesting the counting. "It is contempt of chair's ruling. He should be reprimanded for this violation," asserted the minister. However, the chair did not react to his proposal.
"No, at the moment I can't spare time. Let me go. There is quorum problem inside the House", remarked PM's Adviser Nilofar Bakhtiar when a TV channel correspondent approached her outside the entry gate.
It is pertinent to note that the Adviser is not a member of Parliament.
PML MNA Mehnaz Rafi came down heavily on the opposition, saying that "the opposition is also equally responsible for smooth functioning of the House. Instead of staying away, they should attend the business". She blamed the opposition for wasting time.
She was referring to opposition MNAs who had gathered in the lobby, following the pointing out of lack of quorum. The opposition came to the House after counting was held twice and then walked out after a 'brief' noisy protest before the Speaker's dais.