FROM A RINGSIDE SEAT

Defying all forecasts of splitting up at the eleventh hour the opposition in the National Assembly has stuck together. All 141 members that sit on the opposition benches, including the incarcerated Javed Hashmi, have signed the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, which was filed on Thursday with the assembly secretariat.
Within seven days the House must debate the merits and demerits of the opposition's move and vote on it. There is no reason why Shaukat Aziz should not survive this "most serious parliamentary protest", but if the happenings on the floor in the very first hour of filing the motion are any indicator one would dare say there is a change in the air.
For instance, Speaker Amir Hussain usually do not encourage interruptions in terms of points of order during the question hour, rightly arguing that it is in the members' own interest to ensure that maximum number of questions are tackled. But today he was almost waiting to hear Tehmina Daultana, who got the floor as soon she raised her hand, prompting Khurshid Shah to "wonder what is the secret behind it". She had met Javed Hashmi the day before. He wants to come and vote, she said challenging the Speaker to issue his production order "if there is democracy".
Then she asked why Dr Abdul Qadeer isn't being sent to Imran Khan's cancer hospital for treatment? Qazi Hussain was the next to get the floor. "Dr Abdul Qadeer is a national hero...I tried to see him but the army major on duty asked me to seek permission from a Major General...There should be no restrictions on seeing a person who is suffering from cancer. There should be no mental pressure on him." Makhdoom Amin Fahim asked the Speaker to issue order for production of Javed Hashmi in the House.
Ubiquitous Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sher Afgan was there to respond. Yes, Dr Qadeer is a national hero. All possible facilities are being provided to him. Chaudhry Shujaat and Information Minister Durrani had called on him to inquire about his health. Then Shujaat himself informed the House that Dr Qadeer is fine. "He is in good health. We even talked of old days." Durrani volunteered that Dr Qadeer was "Hashash Bashash" (hale and hearty). "If that is true why then I was not allowed to see Dr Qadeer", asked Qazi Hussain Ahmad. But it was Sahibzada Fazal Karim who dropped the bomb: "The government says Qadeer Khan is a national hero, but you cannot visit him to inquire about his health...We have fears that he is being slow poisoned."
What an irony that during the same question hour the government had conceded that about Rs 2.8 million were spent only recently on Sher Afgan's medical treatment abroad. Hafiz Hussain Ahmad wanted to know if such a huge sum could be spent on Sher Afgan's treatment then why Dr Qadeer is being denied of this facility. Amir Hussain defended the expenditure on the minister, saying the required treatment is not available in Pakistan.
The question hour was not yet over, but points of order were coming up one after the other thanks to the Speaker's generosity. Apparently Raja Pervaiz Ashraf was less patient than his colleagues: Now that the combined opposition has filed the motion of no-confidence against the prime minister. "I would suggest that Shaukat Aziz should resign, and also Awais Leghari." Law Minister Wasi Zafar rejected Raja's demand almost instantaneously, arguing that while the Supreme Court verdict on Pakistan Steel's privatisation came only recently the opposition had announced its decision to move against Shaukat Aziz some two months back.
That there was change in the air was also detectable from the fact that the Prime Minister who watches the proceedings from the closed-circuit television in his chamber and rarely comes to the House was there almost post-haste. Thumping of desks by the treasury members on his arrival was also longer than usual. A kind of battle cry: Don't you worry we are with you. The change in the air was detectable also from the prompt agreeing of Interior Minister Sherpao to Saad Rafique's request that his privilege motion on his mistreatment by the Lahore police be referred to the privileges committee.
The application made to the assembly secretariat to move vote of no confidence against the prime minister is a massive bundle of typed and printed material. The issues raised against the government include the failed privatisation of the PSM, crash of stock exchange, oil prices scam, sugar and 'dal' crises, Mangla Dam Raising, PIA aircraft purchases and Karachi Electric Supply company affairs. A very large number of press clippings are annexed to the letter. Interestingly, the opposition has been able to put up a united stand in the letter on the proposed amendments to the Hudood ordinance.
Meanwhile, the National Assembly secretariat has issued the names of members who have consented to be on the select committee that would consider and report to the National Assembly on the "Criminal Law Amendment (Protection of Women) Act 2006. They are 26 in number and represent all major parties, including MMA.