Four days after passing a highly offensive resolution blaming the media, the Punjab Assembly has come up with what can only be described as a lame excuse for a resolution. Without condemning or withdrawing the former resolution, the 'pro-media' motion assures journalists that the house has no intention of imposing a ban on their reports.
Further, it suggests the constitution of a joint committee of journalists and assembly members to sort out issues in the future. The resolution expresses no regrets for the highly objectionable remarks delivered during the debate on July 7, when MPAs in the Punjab Assembly ran riot on the media over fake degrees. Considering this, the generalised and 'unanimously adopted' eulogy of the media's role remains unconvincing. What the Punjab law minister Rana Sanaullah told reporters after the Assembly session indicates that the PML-N is not prepared to take action against Mastikhel.
According to him, the party chief's decision to expel Mastikhel from the party was based on media reports and he would reconsider the issue after going through the complete record of the formal and informal meetings of an 18-member all-party MPAs' panel that had drafted the resolution against the media. Sanaullah's remarks strengthen the view that the resolution was not a bolt from the blue and that the PML-N leadership was privy to the deliberations between the parliamentarians that had taken place prior to the presentation of the anti-media resolution. Sanaullah says he had vetted the old document to ensure that the government was not asked to act in any way against the media.
This strongly indicates that the party leadership was interacting all along with those who presented the resolution. It was thus not an individual decision by a number of legislators, as was being projected by the provincial government earlier. It appears now that the resolution was finalised by a cross-party group, presumably led by Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, though this was denied earlier to create a perception that the CM had nothing to do with the resolution. The government, it now transpires, vetted the resolution, deleting certain parts, while allowing some of the most objectionable sections to remain intact.
The newly passed motion is meant to placate the media which has continued to protest against the infamous resolution, along with sections of civil society. The way the resolution was passed also raises questions. The motion was put before a house that lacked quorum. When a Q League MPA pointed it out, the objection was not entertained, which is a clear violation of the Rules of Business. The member was then told to leave the house and a punishment of not attending the house for the next fifteen days awarded to him by the Speaker. It is basically the responsibility of the government to ensure that the house remains quorate.
That it failed to fulfil the obligation indicates that either the PML-N leadership was not keen to ensure that the maximum number of MPAs was present or the party has lost its grip over its parliamentarians, who have conducted a mini-revolt. There were reports that the government had worked hard to ensure the presence of a maximum number of its MPAs when the resolution to condemn the media was on the anvil. It had directed district administrators to ensure that the MPAs were present in the house.
This time, no such move was made, showing the government's unconcern. There are some who believe that the government was acting on the dictum "join them, if you cannot beat them." The way PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif's directive to kick out Mastikhel, who was described by him as an outsider who had joined the PML-N bandwagon, has been disregarded is highly significant. It would indicate to many that Nawaz has lost grip over his parliamentary party.
Meanwhile, journalists remain dissatisfied. They have constituted an eight-member committee consisting of top two members each from the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists, Punjab Union of Journalists, the Lahore Press Club and the Punjab Assembly Press Gallery Committee to chart out the future course of action. With the new resolution failing to convince the journalist community, the ball still remains in the government's court.
Comments
Comments are closed.