In a rare presence on Wednesday Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif graced the Punjab Assembly by appearing only for the sixth time in his one and a half year tenure. No wonder why the treasury benches were over the moon after seeing him in the House.
The Punjab Chief Minister's absence from the House was never felt, since his loyal legislators never missed an opportunity to echo the name Shahbaz Sharif but his physical appearance meant a lot for the PML-N legislators, as a majority of them never hoped of catching a glimpse of him.
On a number of occasions, many PML-N parliamentarians expressed their dismay over failing to get an access to the Chief Minister. So, seeing him in the House was bound to overwhelm them, to the extent that they shouted slogan 'dekho, dekho kon aya, sher aya' and thus turning the law-making institution's atmosphere into a public meeting.
The timing of Shahbaz's sixth appearance in the House is very interesting. Thin presence of treasury benches has been a constant problem for the government. Hence, it had to face a number of embarrassments in the hands of handful of opposition members, who successfully delayed the tabling of bills and resolutions after pointing out lack of quorum and hence the Speaker had to prematurely end the proceedings.
This very factor, combined with complaints of disgruntle PML-N MPAs, the recent PML-N defeat in Mansehra and the Punjab Law Minister's controversial plaza, might had something to do with his decision to address the House. While addressing the legislators, Shahbaz Sharif continuously attacked past dictators for causing harm to the country and defended Punjab by saying that no dictator hailed from this province, and thus it is wrongly asserted that Punjab always welcomed dictators.
In his speech, he showed full solidarity with Balochistan. Referring to Akbar Bugti, he said dictator Musharraf declared such a person as traitor who held key posts of the country, represented federation and was considered a hero by people of Balochistan. He also said Musharraf should be held accountable for the Akbar Bugti's murder. "Political justice is the right of people of Balochistan and the Balochis are asking questions that should be replied positively in the interest of national solidarity. Decisions will have to be made in the interest of survival of the country.
On National Finance Commission (NFC) Award, the CM said it was a historical moment when the Award was finalised after developing a consensus among all the provinces. He said the NFC has removed misunderstanding between provinces and helped in promoting national solidarity.
He observed that the federation and the provincial governments displayed large heartedness in the approval of NFC Award due to which resources for Balochistan increased from Rs 43 to 83 billion. "Punjab has contributed purely from its own recourses and not made any demand to federation. It was a humble gesture of goodwill from 900 million people of Punjab for their Balochi brethren and reflected their spirit of sacrifice and sentiments of brotherhood. Similarly, the NWFP and Sindh have also set a noble example of generosity in the approval of NFC Award," he added.
According to him, credit goes to democratic government for unanimous approval of NFC Award and President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani, Federal Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin, and provincial chief ministers deserve rich appreciation. He also advised the politicians of all political parties to avoid point scoring at the expense of the country as stability and national prosperity should be the common objective.