The Punjab Assembly on Monday unanimously passed the amendment regarding powers of speaker to issue production order of a member under detention. The Assembly also passed The Punjab Right to Public Services Bill, 2018 while the speaker Pervez Elahi deferred The Punjab Domestic Workers Bill 2018 and The Punjab Prevention of Conflict of Interest Bill 2018.
All the amendments suggested by the opposition in the bills were rejected. PPP parliamentary leader Syed Hassan Murtaza walked out in protest for not adopting proper procedure of presenting the bills in the assembly.
He said the speaker constituted the house committee only to maintain law and order in the house and it was not the prerogative of the committee to discuss the bills which are presented in the House for passage.
PML (N) MPAs Uzma Bukhari, Malik Ahmed Khan and Waris Kaloo said the purpose of passage of Right to Public Services Bill is to put bureaucracy under pressure and put all the blame of failure of government on them.
While responding to the objections of opposition regarding powers of the special committee constituted by Speaker Pervez Elahi, Law Minister Raja Basharat said that committee has the powers to discuss the bills.
Pervez Elahi said that objections raised by the opposition on The Punjab Domestic Workers Bill 2018 and The Punjab Prevention of Conflict of Interest Bill 2018 were valid and government should bring the bill after discussing these bills by opposition.
He also said that the government introduced Right to Services Bill to fulfill the promise of PTI government to solve the problems of people. The answers of the question regarding departments of communication and works, social welfare and Baitul Maal were given by provincial ministers Ajmal Cheema and Sardar Asif Nakai.
Meanwhile talking to media outside the Punjab Assembly, Opposition Leader Hamza Shahbaz Sharif said that Prime Minister Imran Khan is calling opposition leaders thieves and dacoits but he himself has no logical answer about the money trail of his sister Aleema Khan. He alleged that the PTI government has taken loads of Rs1400 billion rupees from the State Bank of Pakistan. It was also not releasing funds to the elected local government bodies of the province, he further alleged.