Opp hold own ‘assembly session’ outside PA

LAHORE

Lodging a protest against the alleged biased and partial attitude of the Punjab Assembly speaker, the opposition set up its own assembly outside the PA and demanded a written apology from chair. 

“We will continue to lodge protest and hold the assembly session outside PA until the speaker seeks written apology from the opposition over his attitude,” said Mian Aslam Iqbal, a senior PTI legislator while addressing the opposition members on the stairs outside the PA.

The opposition led assembly session was chaired by PTI MPA Nausheen Hamid whereas members from PPP and PML-Q attended it. Noted opposition members who attended the session convened outside PA included Ali Salman Siddique, Ehsan Riaz Fatyana, Amir Sultan Cheema, Faiza Malik, Waqas Moakkel, Saadia Sohail, Arif Abbasi, Asif Mehmood and Opposition leader Mian Mehmood ul Rasheed.

Speaking on the occasion, Mian Mehmood ul Rasheed, the opposition leader in PA, said the attitude of Speaker had turned this august house as a house of Jati Umera representatives.

He said whenever any opposition MPA tried to bring facts to surface and raise curtain from the wrong doings of the prime minister and the chief minister, his voice was silenced and the attitude of the speaker in this regard was also highly regretful.

He slammed Law Minister Rana Sana Ullah Khan for his remarks against Chief Minister, KP, Pervaiz Khattak when he warned the Punjab government over allegedly targeting Pakhtuns. 

He alleged that while launching operation against Pakhtuns of Punjab, the PML-N rulers were on the mission of dividing Pakistan. “Do they want another Dhaka like incident in Pakistan, Pakhtuns are Pakistan’s loyalists, they preferred to stand by Pakistan at the time of independence but the way they are being treated now by PML-N government is highly condemnable,” Mian Mehmood ul Rasheed said.

Mian Aslam Iqbal, the PTI legislator, who has also been lodging serious protest over the speaker’s attitude inside PA on the occasion said that it had become an offence in the current assembly to show mirror to the government or take up the issues related with our own constituencies.

He said people of Punjab had sent us to this elected assembly but it had been converted into a platform where only PM and CM were praised.

Whenever any member wanted to speak on Metro Bus and Orange Train or to highlight public woes, he wasn’t allowed to say a word by the Speaker. He said that Opposition wouldn’t participate in the assembly business and would continue to protest until the Speaker tendered written apology to it over his attitude.

PTI MPA Shoaib Siddiqi submitted resolution against the speaker which also demanded apology from him. 

PML-N Chief Whip Rana Arshed once again had to undergo a testing phase when the PA proceedings were adjourned for half an hour during the question hour session due to lack of quorum. After the quorum was pointed out by an Opposition MPA during the question hour which was related to Higher Education Department, the PML-N Chief Whip had to position himself at the main entrance of the PA to woo every member of his own party to attend the session.

The proceedings were resumed with a lapse of nearly one hour after the quorum was found complete.