FROM A RINGSIDE SEAT

A historian once said, "those who don't learn from unpleasant events, one day become part of such events". Flash floods and rains in May and June this year wreaked havoc in Nowshehra, Peshawar and elsewhere.
What preventive measures the government took or to what extent it provided relief to the affected people, the opposition wanted to discuss in the National Assembly. They filed not less than five adjournment motions with the NA Secretariat in June.
For reasons unknown, the Assembly was not summoned in July and August, and now without any specific piece of legislation on agenda, sittings are being held, simply to meet the constitutional requirement ie the House must meet for a minimum 120 days in a parliamentary year. However, Speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain agreed to include these motions on the Friday agenda. But showing indifference of the highest level, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Dr Sher Afgan Niazi opposed the motions, saying the matter was not current, therefore, it could not be discussed now.
Liaquat Baloch, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Hafiz Hussain Ahmed and some others, speaking on the motions' admissibility said the government was to be blamed for not summoning the session earlier. However, this could not convince the Chair and the motions were not entertained after the headcount, triggering the combined opposition's walkout.
There was no harm in discussing the flood devastation, as a debate could have led to a food for thought for those who are at the helm of affairs and still could not prevent huge loss of life and property. But perhaps because of the fear of being grilled on the matter, the government did not let it be discussed on the floor of the House.
Earlier, the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal and Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) walked out over the alleged connection of an MMA MNA with a terrorist organisation.
To the members' shock and those sitting in the galleries, State Minister Mir Naseer Mengal informed the House during the question hour that there was no proposal under consideration to withdraw general sales tax on petroleum products. POL prices' persistent increase has caused massive price hike of daily use items, be it a basic necessity such as cooking oil, ghee, vegetable or fruit.
Two walkouts from the Assembly and one from the Senate showed the 'degree of amicability' the treasury and the opposition enjoyed at the moment. Apparently, one does not see any real effort for 'reconciliation'. If the differences and the crisis of working relationship deepened, it could usher in serious repercussions. The ultimate sufferer will be the masses...this is what our checkered parliamentary history teaches us. Flexibility on both sides is imperative in the given situation to end the status quo in the Senate. There must be no concept of a Hobson's choice in politics.
Khawaja Asif of the PML (N) drew attention of the House towards President Musharraf's reported statement that some women get raped for the sake of visa. "It is shocking that no female member from the treasury took notice of this statement," he said, and found his mike switched off. A treasury MNA Begum Khurshid Afgan wanted to say something, but was not allowed.
Following the completion of the question hour, which was by and large sparsely-attended by the opposition, the Chair allowed more points of order after MNA Khawaja Asif, PPPP's Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and Hizbullah Boghio charged that massive pre-poll rigging was under way in the run up to the nazims' election.
"Our members are being harassed and pressurised to quit the party," roared Raja Pervaiz, whose mike was switched off on the plea that it did not constitute a point of order. Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz spent some time in the Assembly and the ministers and members (treasury and MMA) met him. He also had tête-à-tête with opposition leaders.
Later, talking to newsmen at his chamber, after a brief chat with opposition leaders in the Assembly, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz played down the treasury-opposition stand-off on who can chair the session in the absence of chairman. He deplored the slogan-chanting and desk-thumping.
"We want better relationship with the opposition and our doors are always open for talks. The masses want positive trend in politics. That is why they rejected the opposition's strike call. They want solution of their problems. The government from day one wants the system to move forward smoothly," he remarked.
The Senate again met 90 minutes behind the schedule and could hardly take up the items on the agenda. The opposition adopted a harsher tone and demanded of the Senate secretary to get the chairman's seat vacated by a sergeant-at-arms. Opposition members shouted ear-piercing slogans, as the presiding officer Senator Khalid Ranjha entered the House to resume his chair. Silence returned to the House for some minutes when the Qari recited verses from the Holy Quran.
After that opposition senators were again on their feet and made an exit from the House after 20 minutes agitation, sloganeering, and reiterated their demand that the secretary should announce the chairman's seat is vacant and the House should decide who can stand in for the chairman.
In the absence of opposition, the government faced embarrassment when treasury senators, particularly Chief Whip Kamil Ali Agha wanted to know why some 4,000 PTCL employees had been served notice regarding their sacking. He reminded the government that two federal ministers had given assurances that at least for one year, no employee would be sent home.
In the previous three days, the Senate could not conduct business, costing the national exchequer millions. For how long can we afford this predicament? Some one should chip in to end the present situation. History is recording all happenings in both Houses of graduates. By the way, who can be the ultimate beneficiary from this sorry state of affairs is anybody's guess!