LAHORE - Punjab Assembly has become the most happening place under the leadership of Speaker Ch Parvez Elahi who has assumed its Speakership again after over two decades.
Despite the somber mood prevailing here due to suspension of Assembly membership of six PML-N Lawmakers, one can see a great hustle and bustle during and after the sittings.
Unusual things are also happening both inside and outside it. Never before in the Assembly’s history, a chief minister would sit in the Assembly for hours to meet the legislators, and to attend its sessions.
On Wednesday, the Chief Minister Usman Buzdar had meetings with Assembly members from D.G Khan and Sargodha divisions in his Assembly chamber.
He is conducting such meetings for the last one week. The purpose of these meetings is to seek first-hand knowledge of the problems facing the people in the far-flung areas.
The Chief Minister also issueD on the spot orders to the concerned authorities to fix the problems.
Since the Chief Minister, his Chief Secretary and other senior officers remain present inside the Assembly for long, it helps the Treasury to keep the House in quorum. As per general practice, the lawmakers tend to skip the Assembly sittings after marking attendance. They have to visit government offices to see senior officers for solution of problems in their constituencies.
Since start of the budget session, the Treasury has managed to complete the quorum, whenever, it was pointed out by some naughty Opposition members. Despite its boycott of the Assembly proceedings, the Opposition would send one of its ‘quorum experts’ to the House everyday to count the Treasury lawmakers and if the required number is not complete, he would point it out to the Speaker.
Mian Tahir Jamil and Irfan Daultana of the PML-N are performing this duty alternately since October 16.
Counting of the lawmakers inside the House is an art and a tricky job as well. It is because one also has to keep a vigilant eye at the exit and entry points. A legislator can enter and leave the House any time during the proceedings without intimation to the Chair.
If you even miss one legislator from the count, the opposition has to face embarrassment if the quorum is found complete in the count ordered by the Speaker. During the current session, quorum has not been an issue for the Treasury. Whenever the opposition members pointed it out, it managed to complete it.
Moreover, the arrivals and departures of Opposition leader Hamza Shehbaz are watched with great interest. He makes the party lawmakers to wait for him for few hours only. And when he suddenly appears in the Assembly lawns, his colleagues rush to greet him.
TV cameras also focus on him till he retires to his Assembly chambers. A personal bodyguard of his controls the entry point and shuts the door when the room is full to its capacity. The guard would also stop journalists from entering Hamza’s chamber. There is always an important meeting taking place inside. For the Parliamentary reporters covering the Assembly proceedings since years, it is something very unusual.
Before advent of Hamza Shehbaz in the Punjab Assembly, the chamber of Opposition leader has always been the ultimate resting place for the journalists who could enter his chamber any time to see him.
Secretary Assembly Muhammad Khan Bhatti’s surprise visits to check attendance of officers is also quite a scene to watch.
Escorted by his personal bodyguard and assistants, Bhatti makes swift movements from one room to another. Muhammad Khan has taken charge as Secretary Assembly after availing 10 years of long leave. This is unprecedented in country’s administrative history. And may be, he also finds a place in the Guinness Book of World Records for availing the longest ever leave and then reporting back to his parent department only to continue on his previous position.
Former Speaker Punjab Assembly Rana Muhammad Iqbal has been gracious enough to approve and extend his leave after every three or four months in the last one decade during which he was holding the fort. This may be surprising for many but it is true.
MUBASHIR HASSAN