ISLAMABAD - She might have been only doing her job, but the National Assembly's Speaker certainly turned out to be a killjoy when she expunged former Baluchistan Chief Minister Taj Jamali's remarks about the President from the proceedings. Which means it cannot be written down. But it was some pretty creative stuff; the rustic, rough-around-the-edges variety, just like the honourable member from Baluchistan himself. The remark set the course for most of the fireworks witnessed in the session. The PML-Q's NWFP chief, Amir Muqam started off with an ode to the President. N's Ahsen Iqbal, on a Point of Order, had a thing or two to say about Muqam's praise. Were there any lines outside flourmills before Oct 1999? Any loadshedding? Oh yes, there was a flour shortage before '99, replied the Q legislator (something your correspondent, hailing from the NWFP, can testify to). And as far as the electricity is concerned, continued Muqam, the Q government added 2300 MW to the national grid (something your correspondent, or the national grid for that matter, knew absolutely nothing about). I can challenge anyone to a debate to the said issues, he said. Bring it on, replied Iqbal. But Musharraf has to be present at the debate. This exchange between the two Leaguers was peppered by much booing and desk-thumping, no points for guessing who got what. The Q League's Marvi Memon was also pretty vocal, expressing distaste at the fact that the treasury benches were vectoring off from the issue on the floor i.e the US bombing at Bajaur. Though, and here lies the chutzpah, she did give an account of how expensive apples have gotten. Another case of mixing your apples and oranges? The booing and desk-thumping was bound to continue with the PML-N's firebrand Tehmina Daultana. And it did. She started off with the joke about the dog in the well, doing much rounds on the SMS circuit these days. Since everybody present had already heard the joke, the Opposition benches started booing way before the punchline. Her tirade was far more crude than Jamali's. But the Speaker spared her because she was not as direct. Maybe he should take a leaf out of her book.