Personal remarks plunge Punjab PA in disorder

LAHORE: Instead of finding solution to prevailing issues confronted by the province, the treasury and opposition members in the Punjab Assembly indulged in blame game and hurled personal remarks against each other that plunged the house in disorder on Friday.

The PA session, which was under way with Deputy Speaker Mir Dost Mohammed Mazari in the chair, witnessed uproar when Malik Arshed, a PML-N MPA, taunted Punjab Information Minister Fayyazul Hassan Chohan while attributing his name to the controversial Tik Tok girl Hareem Shah.

The opposition members chanted objectionable slogans against the Punjab information minister on which Chohan stated that their own leader’s name was once echoed with singers like Tahira Syed and Dilshad Begum.

These remarks by Fayyaz annoyed the PML-N legislators and Malik Nadim Kamran, a senior member of the house, stated that the Punjab information minister always spoiled the atmosphere of the Punjab Assembly through his words. Rana Mashood, former deputy speaker and another senior PML-N member, said Chohan’s selection of words isn’t good due to which the situation gets disturbed.

Awais Leghari, PML-N legislator from Dera Ghazi Khan, the same district Chief Minister Usman Buzdar belongs to, while speaking on Kashmir, law and order as well as flour, said the Punjab governor is himself claiming that all powers in Punjab are under the command of bureaucracy. He said the prime minister has no right to transfer the powers of a chief minister to bureaucracy as it is disrespect to this august house. Leghari said when dialogue is not allowed, depression increases in the society.

He said it is unfortunate that nothing is being done for people and the need of the hour is to redress their grievances in the way they want. Bilal Yasin, former food minister and PML-N member, slammed the government for its failure in addressing the flour crisis.

PPP Punjab Parliamentary Leader Hassan Murtaza ended his hunger strike after the government assured him of providing all possible relief to people. Hassan Murtaza had announced hunger strike till death against the failure of the government in providing flour and other basic needs to people. He spent the night on the stairs of the Punjab Assembly. However, when a delegation of ministers and PML-N senior legislator Rana Mohammed Iqbal Khan called on him, he ended the strike.