The session of Punjab Assembly on Wednesday witnessed a rumpus when the speaker and a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader had an exchange of hot words. PTI MPA Mian Aslam pointed out the quorum twice but the speaker insisted that the quorum was complete.
Punjab Assembly Speaker Rana Muhammad Iqbal said Mian Aslam Iqbal 'shut up' which followed an exchange of heated argument between the PTI leader and the speaker, creating discord in the session. The PTI leaders boycotted the session and staged a walk out of the assembly while Mian Aslam Iqbal and Shoaib Siddiqui chanted slogans of 'go speaker go'.
Talking to media, Deputy Opposition Leader Sibtain Haider said the speaker was biased while Mian Aslam said the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz members were following in the footprints of their leader Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif. He said in the past the CM used to come in the assembly on Women's Day but this year he organised this event somewhere else. He said if the ministers and parliamentary secretaries bother to attend the session then treasury benches will not face the problem of quorum.
Earlier, the session started one hour 15 minutes late under the chair of speaker Rana Muhammad Iqbal. Finance Minister Ayesha Ghaus Pasha started the pre-budget debate and said the government will consider the budget proposals of all the members. Education, health, agriculture and law and order are the priorities of the government, she added. The parliamentarians should come up with suggestions which are in the public interest.
The government will present people-friendly budget, she added and dispelled the impression that proposals of the members were not considered by the government. Last year the government included the proposals of 100 members in the budget who took part in the pre-budget discussion, she concluded. The session was adjourned till 10 am on Thursday.