A long-awaited visit by premier

A long-awaited visit of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to the Parliament House, combined opposition (minus MQM) dearly wanted to take place. 

But obsolete political gimmicks, meaningless point scoring didn’t allow it to cash on the opportunity or even play it to the gallery. At the end of the day, it turned out to be sort of a missed opportunity for both treasury and opposition, alike. 

Thanks to strange ways of planners and advisers of the treasury benches to have indulged in such an exercise only to register prime minister’s long-awaited presence. And that too when he had arrived there to inaugurate the new solar power system of the Parliament.

His presence in the House was made only a photo-op. Silence of chief executive for more days to come on the sensitive issue of NAB reforms, having been exhaustively discussed by news channels by now, is what they gained by default. From a hindsight, the onus is always there on the ruling party to indulge in best of parliamentary practices. 

And when it commands comfortable majority and finds (non) combined opposition in a toothless mode. At best, the opposition can only raise voice, agitate or walk out. For now, on the face of it, the strange amalgam of PPP-PTI-JI Opposition, divided they remain on critical issues, has to go hand-in-hand on nominal ones.

They have to tread along for combined good. And that too, when on a political strategy level, PTI’s brains are not at all comfortable with the tactics of PPP’s opposition leader they have to follow consciously, these days. 

So on Tuesday even when everyone knew the premier will be there in the morning hours, a PTI legislator had the guts to point out the quorum as majority of the treasury had grouped outside to enjoy the company of premier and his ministers.

As a result, the House proceedings remained suspended for quite a while. But as soon as the PM came towards the NA Hall, treasury members filled the place like anything. Calm but indulged in deep thinking, prime minister sat in the House for less than an hour. Many overjoyed treasury legislators availed the opportunity to register presence, exchange greetings. One could see the bandwagon of often absent elite line of federal ministers, their less important second line colleagues, to the ever present flock of ministers of state tucked in their respective seats. 

This was their best ever presence, at least for the current year. Even the eight-plus MQM legislators sat all through PM’s presence, walked out after many minutes of wait, that too, under protest to press their case to unblock Altaf bhai from television screens across Pakistan. 

The MQM is following its own line in the Parliament. PPP, PTI, or JI are no go areas for MQM now fighting on multiple political fronts with each one of them.

With many unresolved issues hanging in the balance including powers for their Karachi mayor, no one of them  wants a faceoff with establishment of the day involved deeply and whole-heartedly to cleanse Karachi of its chronic ills. And their body language, careful conduct, reveals it all these days, amply demonstrative in the Lower House in front of the premier Tuesday morning visit. 

This was exactly the time when majority opposition members were physically tucked in the Lobby nearby, but having their eyes and ears fixed at the door as they waited for any minister to turn up to take them along. They could have scored some points, had some leading light from their ranks, opposition leader may be, could make it to the hall and speak on opposition’s concerns and point. But that was not to be. All of them were in compulsory agitation mode since Monday evening when they had to walk out to protest behaviour of Mr Abbasi, the deputy speaker. The gentleman tends to act like Shehla Raza of the PPP, die hard deputy speaker of Sindh Assembly, to toe treasury’s policy in that province. The whole agitation issue in National Assembly since Monday evening however revolved around an alleged miscount by the deputy speaker on a motion of thanks on presidential address of June 2015. 

As the opposition wanted to be tricky and meddlesome, government tried to bulldoze in a haphazard manner, and hence a vote count. As opposition benches claimed 39 to 34 victory to the embarrassment of treasury, the chair declared it a 34 each tie, and cast its own vote to avoid treasury’s defeat. Opposition walked out then and there, vowing not to return whenever Mr Abbasi is in the chair. 

This was not to be. On Tuesday morning, to their utter surprise, deputy speaker came to chair the session even when the premier remained seated. The speaker didn’t turn up even when he was present in his chambers, and premier remained seated in the House. And opposition cried foul as a result, terming it violation of parliamentary practices. Speaker should grace the chair when the premier is around, they argued. Treasury’s brains however knew the scheme of things, prompting some PTI legislators to declare the political match that can at best be dubbed as net practice was fixed between PPP’s top legislator and treasury’s spin doctors. Khursheed Shah, as is always the case, however made another emphatic appeal to the government, as opposition returned to House, not to dodge the opposition through these tactics. Minister Zahid Hamid, as always, assured the House, how respectful opposition leader Khursheed Shah and his thoughts are for the treasury. Ample parliamentary jargon wrapped in polite, respectful trickery, is there for you Mr Shah - for many days, weeks, may be months to come.