Awami National Party (ANP) legislator Ghulam Ahmed Bilour and members of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) nearly came to exchange blows as anger flared in the National Assembly session on Tuesday over demand of creating new provinces.
The MPs were trying to have a meaningless bout, when Haider Abbas Rizvi of MQM kept on demanding of the Chair to at least allow a debate on creation of new provinces like Hazara and Saraiki to end what he called the sense of deprivation among people of the areas.
Extraordinary scenes were witnessed in the NA when the ANP stalwart Ghulam Ahmed Bilour, lonely took MQM to task, warning the party not to cross its limits. "Just don't cross the limits, how dare you talk of dividing my province [Khyber Pakhtunkhwa]...I never talked of dividing Sindh or Punjab by creating new provinces. This is a conspiracy to snatch the provincial autonomy and you will never succeed in doing so," the hot-headed Bilour warned the MQM lawmakers.
The demand of MQM to initiate a debate on creation of new provinces over a resolution moved by the party, gained momentum when Saraiki MNAs including PML-Q members and some from Hazara joined hands with them, pressing the Chair to allow a debate, which forced the Chair to suspend the session for 20 minutes.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), the main opposition party, showed its willingness to allow debate on the subject, but regretted the attitude of the political parties for making a issue out of non-issue when the country was facing worsening gas loadshedding.
Sheikh Aftab of PML-N suggested that before discussing the issue in the house, it should be taken up first by the business advisory committee. "We don't oppose it as the matter is of great national importance and such a haste to discuss it at present will serve no purpose because there are lots of real issues which must be discussed on priority basis," he said.
Minister for Religious Affairs Syed Khurshid Ahmed Shah said that his party was in favour of new provinces but proposed that it was a constitutional matter, hence before discussing it, the government would like to take its allies onboard. The PML-Q played a leading role in support of Saraiki and Hazara provinces. While extending all out support to MQM, Sheikh Waqas Akram of PML-Q said that creation of new provinces was necessary to address people's problems in a better way.
He said that it would help end financial hegemony of Lahore and Peshawar - the provincial headquarters of the two provinces, in equitable distribution of funds among other parts of the respective provinces. He lamented that the whole money allocated for both health and education sectors in other areas of the provinces was not even equal to the money allocated for construction of a flyover in Peshawar or Lahore.
Sardar Mehtab Ahmed Khan Abbasi said that it was a very sensitive issue and should be dealt with seriously. "We are in favour of new provinces wherever necessary but it should not be merely for political point scoring," he added. Abid Sher Ali urged the government to think about providing basic amenities of life including gas, electricity, food, water, shelter etc before flexing its muscles for creating new provinces.
He said poor governance had frustrated people to such an extent that they would greet the "PM with sticks and shoes if they see him in public without any security". Earlier, the PML-N staged a walkout from the NA for not getting development funds allocated for the parliamentarians. Murtaza Abbasi of PML-N said that the government continued to create hurdles in release of funds to MPs under PWP-1. He said that the funds for PWP-II for 2010-11 were surrendered despite approval of development schemes by the Cabinet Division.
The minister in-charge for cabinet division Makhdoom Shahabuddin said that lapsed funds of parliamentarians would soon be revitalised and a summary in this regard, had already been sent to the Prime Minister.
He said it was not victimisation as his own schemes were dropped and funds lapsed due to improper utilisation by executing agencies. The minister said that credit of funds dispensation was made in the last week of June, 2011 but the concerned executing agencies remained unable to utilise them properly. He said that every MNA and Senator was entitled to Rs 10 million as development grant which had been increased by Prime Minister Gilani to Rs 20 million.
Regarding walkout by PML-N over non-release of development funds, Minister for Religious affairs Syed Khurshid Shah challenged the opposition, saying it was the only government which had ensured release of funds to opposition members without any discrimination.
"The PM has given more [uplift] funds to opposition...I am a dirty sinner that deserves worse punishment like a thief if proved the government has a discriminatory attitude towards opposition members regarding release of funds," he maintained. He said that by resorting to such attitude over non-issues, the PML-N was not setting up any good precedent, which was closed by late Benazir Bhutto after great struggle. The dictators, prominently Zia and Musharraf, ruined the country but the opposition was tongue-tied to say anything against them, he added.
"General Zia recruited terrorist organisations in the country, Musharraf was responsible for the killing of over 5000 soldiers in Kargil but nobody is ready to speak against them," he lamented. He said that when the issue of gas loadshedding for domestic consumers was resolved, the PML-N had come up with a new demand to provide gas for CNG stations. Without mentioning the name of Imran Khan, Khurshid Shah said that the PML-N was afraid of another lion and trying to build pressure on government just to settle its score to be the only king of the jungle.
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