LAHORE - Legislators from both sides of the political divide levelled allegations and counter allegations against each other’s leadership, with little attention to the agenda -- debate on the prevailing law and order situation -- during Punjab Assembly’s session on Thursday.

The Opposition had submitted the requisition for a debate in the House on law and order situation but its legislators resorted to the usual routine of chanting slogans against PTI leadership and in the favour of Shehbaz Sharif. The treasury legislators responded with leveling allegations of corruption and plundering during the previous regimes.

The session started one hour and 50 minutes beyond the scheduled time with speaker Ch Parvez Elahi in the chair.

After relaxation of rules, Law Minister Raja Basharat presented an out of turn resolution to condemn assassination of JUI-S ameer Maulana Samiul Haq which was unanimously passed by the House.

Appreciating services of Maulana Samiul Haq for propagation of Islam and as a Senator, the House believed that the country was deprived of the services of a great scholar. The resolution expressed resolve to bring the culprits to justice at the earliest.  Rah-e-Haq party MPA Muawiya Azam demanded presenting investigation report of the tragic incident before the House within 20 days. He criticized the government for not providing proper security to a leader of Maulana Samiul Haq stature. He said that those who withdrew security of leaders were roaming around with unprecedented protocol. He said that assignation of Maulana has created a vacuum which would be hard to fill for quite some time. He said that the incident would be a blow for efforts of normalization of situation in the region. He said that inordinate delay in verdicts on Pervaiz Musharraf and Asghar Khan cases and hasty decisions in Mumtaz Qadri and Aasia Bibi cases has raised many questions.

PML-N’s Rana Mashood Ahmed Khan said that the government should have constituted a House committee to evaluate causes of the tragic incident.

PPP’s Hassan Murtaza said that the incidents of political murders should stop and it was time to move ahead of merely presentation of resolutions.

Raja Basharat said that the investigation was going in the right direction and assassins would be arrested soon.

The PA presented a classical example of how much the legislators are serious in addressing the public woes as MPAs on both sides of the political divide debated very little on the main item on agenda “law and order” and on suggesting ways and means for a charter to address this thorny issue of the masses. They consumed most of the time in criticizing the leadership of each other.

The Opposition chanted slogans against the arrest of Shehbaz Sharif and sought his release terming him ‘political prisoner’ who is facing ‘victimization of the ruling side.’ The PML-N legislators raised slogans against the ruling persons symbolizing them with ‘Dako’, ‘Chor’, ‘Donkey Raja.’  They held a pretty long spell of slogans during which the treasury mostly remained quiet.

Malik Muhammad Ahmad said that Shehbaz Sharif was in NAB custody despite the fact that not a single evidence of corruption was available against.

Provincial Minister Mian Aslam Iqbal in counterblast said the Opposition protest in fact, aims to hide the corruption which former Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his cronies continued to commit during the last 10 years of rule. He accused the PML-N of delaying projects of Ch Parvez Elahi regime and bringing own to mint money through kickbacks.

Minister Cha Zaheer-ud-Din said that loot and plunder was a routine during Shehbaz Sharif regime. He said that the entire development budget of south Punjab was diverted to projects like Metro Buss and Orange Train.

On completion of agenda, the chair prorogued the session.