FROM A RINGSIDE SEAT

The Parliament of Pakistan consists of the President and two houses to be known respectively as the National Assembly and the Senate. The President may address either house or may send messages to either house or both houses assembled together with respect to a Bill then pending in the parliament or otherwise.
The house to which any such message is sent shall with all convenient dispatch consider any matter required by the message to be taken into consideration. But most importantly, he shall address the joint sitting of both the houses at the commencement of first session of each parliamentary year.
Stated above is the Constitutional position, but it has been complied with only to the extent of addressing the joint sitting only once, which turned boisterous as the opposition drowned Musharraf's speech in a huge pandemonium. That, however, did not stop him from coming to the Parliament House, where he has his office, most famously at the time the 17th constitutional amendment was in the making. On Wednesday, he came here once again and granted audience to some members from the ruling coalition.
Speaker Amir Hussain also called on him, leaving the sitting that was in progress to be chaired by Deputy Speaker Sardar Yaqub, and then Rai Mansab Ali. At the time the current session started this column had indicated the possibility of the President's coming, arguing that the preceding session, that was 34th, was abruptly adjourned so that the new one could be summoned in early May to coincide with President Pervez Musharraf's decision to sit in his parliament building office.
Senior parliamentarian and a former deputy speaker Zafar Ali Shah, however, offered a different perspective on the sudden adjournment of the 34th session. Objecting to the laying of three ordinances before the House by Sher Afgan on Wednesday he claimed that the 34th session was adjourned prematurely to enable the government to issue seven ordinances.
The whole saga has brought nothing but disgrace to the parliament, he asserted. But Sher Afgan rejected former his claim, saying the Constitution permits issuance of ordinances, and if the opposition felt so bad about it its members can move for disapproval of the ordinances. Setting a new record, the opposition did not disappoint the minister and moved for disapproval of one of three ordinances that were laid.
There was no question hour, thanks to the hasty calling of the 35th session. The first item on the agenda was a calling attention notice filed by five government members regarding robbery in a branch of the Habib Bank in Lahore. The dacoits had broken up almost all the lockers including one belonging to one of the movers.
Responding to the notice, State minister for interior Zafar Iqbal Warriach said though the issue falls in the provincial domain he would still be informing the House of the facts of the case as he received the report from Lahore. But Sher Afgan, who looks after the parliamentary affairs, was not ready to entertain this calling attention notice. This is a provincial matter, he said, cautioning the Chair to be careful in future by refusing to entertain provincial issues at the national forum, which, he said the National Assembly is.
Rai Mansab Ali, then in the Chair, did not accept the minister's logic. The incident may be falling in the provincial jurisdiction but how could federal government be indifferent when it concerns the general public and the banks. He then gave the floor to Farid Paracha, who held the federal government responsible for overall law and order situation in the country. But the discussion was dropped, till the minister received the report from Lahore and informed the House of the facts. But movers of the calling attention notice were apparently not satisfied.
Meanwhile, the opposition members staged a token walkout to express solidarity with journalists, as it was the Press Freedom Day the worldover. After a little hesitation the media persons too walked out of the press gallery. Keeping with tradition federal ministers Saleem Saifullah and Amir Maqam, followed by Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, came to the press lounge to hear the protestors where as expected non-implementation of 7th Wage Board Award came up. Shujaat promised concrete action and positive result for which, he said, work would be undertaken very shortly.
Once a number of points of order had been taken care of and some legislative business done the debate on loadshedding resumed. Speaking first, Abdul Akbar Chitrali claimed that the FBI has opened its office in Chitral and said that it would not be tolerated. He then staged walkout from the House, followed by some MMA women members.
Next speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf talked of the newspaper report according to which Pakistan has been placed by an American publication at 9th place in the list of "failed states". Previously Pakistan was at 34th position and now at 9th, so much for the much-touted good governance, he said. Imtiaz Safdar Warriach also took up the same report and ridiculed the government claims of increased stability in the country.
But other speakers of the day focussed on loadshedding, with Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri claiming that when blasted the gas pipelines that provide gas to Punjab are immediately repaired but four damaged towers that supply electricity to people of Balochistan are still un-repaired.
He said since agriculture in Balochistan is 90-percent dependent on electricity-driven tubewells the recurrent loadshedding has badly hurt the farming community. Turning to military operation in Waziristan, he said why the impression is being given that all that is in the interest of Punjab is in "national interest".
M P Bhandara, who was one of the early callers on President Musharraf in his parliament building office, upheld privatisation of the KESC saying due to this transmission losses would be reduced. He criticised the IPP deals of the previous governments and said that instead the focus should have been on developing hydel resources. Stressing the need to have serious debate in the National Assembly -which according to him cost Rs 106,000 per minute in 2002-03 - instead of shouting and howling, Bhandara said, adding PPPP's Raja Pervaiz Ashraf's speech is so high-pitched that "I tend to lose my hearing".