Lack of 'quorum' has been persistently haunting the Punjab Assembly and on Monday it left the treasury benches high and dry, as it could not enact legislation. In fact, the word 'quorum' has become a taunting word for the government, as on countless occasions the house had prematurely adjourned on the pretext of a lack of quorum.
On some occasions, the treasury benches had to face embarrassment after failing to get important businesses through. 'Quorum busting' has become a favourite game of the opposition benches and they also do not let go the opportunity of pointing out the quorum.
The blame entirely rests on the treasury benches, since its members hardly attend the session. Out of the total 371-members' house, 288 belongs to the treasury benches and the irony is that the government cannot manage even one-fourth ie 93 of the total members to keep the house in order.
The treasury benches is so horrified by the ghost that on Monday, Deputy Speaker Rana Mashhood Ahmad Khan, without a proper count, declared the house in order although the house did meet the required quorum. To the dismay of the opposition benches, the opposition Leader Chaudhry Zaheeruddin on a point of order protested the proceeding would be illegal if the house remains in order without fulfilling the requirement quorum.
This is not for the first time the speaker tried to hoodwink the opposition benches, in the past he used a similar ploy to keep the house in order and rushed through a bill. Then again, in the absence of a chief whip and failure of the parliamentarian leaders of herding MPAs in to the house, the speaker has no answer to the ghost and thus he was forced to use deceptive methods.
On Monday, the Acting Speaker Rana Muhammad Iqbal Khan, who has gained the repute of reading out a bill at a speed of light, tried to hoodwink the opposition benches after they pointed out the quorum. After declaring the house in order despite the fact that only 88 MPAs were present, he tried to rush through The Woman University Multan Bill 2010, which was pending since Friday and could not passed due the lack of quorum.
His efforts short-lived when Mohsin Leghari of the PML-Q pointed quorum with a request that the speaker inform the house the number of legislators present on the floor. With unease, the acting speaker had to adjourn the session, since the house did not meet requisite number.
However, he passed strange remarks to Mohsin that 'he is not bound to take the count'. These remarks become open to discussion when read in conjunction with the Punjab Assembly Rules of Procedure on quorum (Chapter II, section 5-1 and 2). It states, "(1) If at any time during a sitting of the assembly, the attention of the speaker is drawn to the fact that members less than one-fourth of the total membership of the assembly are present, he shall suspend the sitting and shall order the bells to be rung for five minutes and if after the said period there is still no quorum, he shall adjourn the assembly for fifteen to thirty minutes. (2) If, on a fresh count being taken after the expiry of the said period, it is still found that there is no quorum, the speaker shall adjourn the assembly till the next working day or sine die, as the situation may require."
Meanwhile, the recent transit trade treaty between Afghanistan and Pakistan also came under discussion in the house. Noor Khan Niazi of the MMA on a point of order said the federal government should not allow India to use Pakistan for Afghan transit trade. He also said it would have been appropriate if the federal government had taken the Punjab government in confidence on the matter, since Punjab is part of the transit trade corridor.
While condemning the agreement, he criticised India for not allowing the same incentive to Pakistan when it requested to India for trading with the SAARC countries. He also requested the speaker to take up the issue for an open debate in the house.
His remarks invited heated words from the PPP legislators. Uzma Bokhari told the house that they are not under the US pressure, rather they want peace with India and this consideration alone lead to the agreement. "The agreement should not be seen as a weakness of the federal government," she added. She lambasted Niazi for using non-parliamentary words and asked the speaker to expunge his words. Punjab's Law Minister Rana Sana Ullah Khan also jumped in and said it is an important issue and should only be discussed after a through examination of the agreement.
He requested Senior Minister Raja Riaz to attain its copy, to be reviewed by a five-member committee. Thus, it decided that Punjab's Senior Minister Raja Riaz and Minister Finance Tanveer Ashraf Kaira, Punjab's Law Minister Rana Sana Ullah, Opposition Leader Chaudhry Zaheeruddin and Mohsin Leghari would hold a meeting to review the agreement. The house also attended to the question-answer session on livestock and dairy development department and called an attention notice. Later, the house was adjourned till Tuesday morning.
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