PA session hit by MPAs engagement in Banigala

The session of the Punjab Assembly on Monday was severely hampered due to the engagements of lawmakers at Bani Gala – the residence of Chairman Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan.

There was extremely thin attendance of MPAs in the House and the treasury failed to meet the quorum even for a few minutes. The Punjab Assembly was presenting a deserted look as most of the MPAs were in Islamabad since last night after getting the news of the possible arrest of Imran Khan. Speaker Sabtain Khan, Deputy Speaker Wasiq Qayum Abbasi, Chief Minister Ch Parvez Elahi and a large number of cabinet members were there in Bani Gala to ‘protect’ Imran Khan from any possible arrest.

As per the details, the session started after the delay of more than one hour behind its scheduled time with a member of the Panel of Chairmen Mian Shafi Muhammad in the chair. When the session started, there was only one MPA present in the House and he was Mian Aslam Iqbal-Minister for Housing and Urban Development. The lone MPA Aslam Iqbal was there in the House as questions related to his ministry were there on the agenda item that couldn’t be taken up due to the quorum collapse.

Just after the customary Tilawat and Naat, chief whip of PML-N Khalil Tahir Sandhu sought a point of order but the Panel of Chairman Mian Shafi refused to give him the floor. Sandhu kept demanding the floor but he was refused every time. After failing to get the floor, Sandhu pointed out the quorum in frustration and left the House. The session was adjourned for five minutes to meet the quorum but in vain and the chair adjourned the House till Wednesday evening without any proceeding. It should be noted here that 93 MPAs are required to meet the quorum but the treasury failed miserably to gather its lawmakers.

There were two important bills on the agenda item but the legislation couldn’t take place in the absence of treasury lawmakers who were in Bani Gala. To the surprise of many journalists sitting in the Press Gallery, the chair also skipped the session on Tuesday (today) and adjourned the House till Wednesday. It is worth mentioning here that Tuesday is allocated as the Private Member Day in which the MPAs raise the issues related to public importance but the chair skipped the session on Tuesday.

On Monday, a resolution was also submitted in the House by Minister for Local Government Mian Mehmood ur Rasheed to condemn the terrorism charges on Imran Khan by the federal government. “Imran Khan is not only the leader of the Pakistani nation but he is the true leader of the whole Muslim Ummah,” said the resolution submitted by the senior minister of PTI. The terrorism charges against Imran Khan are tantamount to derailing the democratic system and creating chaos in the country, the resolution added. “This House condemns such acts and stands firmly with the real struggle of Imran Khan,” the resolution said.