THROWDOWN IN PUNJAB ASSEMBLY: A ROUGH DAY IN POLITICS
Contentious Session in Punjab Legislative Assembly: Opposition and Government Members Engage in Intense Debate
Things got heated in Lahore's Punjab Assembly on Thursday, with opposition and government members trading barbs during a chaotic session. The dustup started when the treasury benches couldn't keep the necessaryHeadcount, causing an abrupt adjournment.
The session, which was already tense, turned into a free-for-all before Deputy Speaker Zaheer Iqbal Channar called a ceasefire until Friday at 2 PM. Brigadier Mushtaq Ahmad (retd), an opposition member, was the first to spot the shortfall in the quorum, forcing the deputy speaker to put the legislative business on ice.
The session was filled with fireworks from the get-go, as opposition members were already displeased about the absence of ministers and secretaries, delaying proceedings by 15 minutes. When the assembly finally got underway, tensions ran high, particularly during the question hour.
Parliamentary Secretary for Women's Development Sadia Taimoor took aim at PTI members, questioning their credibility in demanding performance reports after allegedly failing to form standing committees or caucuses during their four-year reign. As if that wasn't enough, Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan directed the Information Minister to address a query raised by Azma Bukhari regarding the Indo-Pak war.
The session took another wild twist when opposition members criticized the police department for their handling of law and order. Rana Aftab Ahmed accused the government and police of showing favoritism towards PTI instead of maintaining public order. The exchange escalated, prompting PTI's Sahibzada Saeedul Hassan Bharath to fire back with some choice words, aggravating the situation even further.
As the Deputy Speaker became visibly upset during the heated exchanges, tempers flared, with PML-N's Mujtaba Shujaur Rehman joining the fray. The dueling politicians squared off, with Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan needing to step in to quell the chaos.
Despite the uproar, the Women's Caucus managed to make headway. Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan announced the establishment of the caucus to address women's issues on a priority basis, with members from all political parties represented. Khan emphasized that incidents of harassment against women must be addressed promptly, stating that women in rural areas are in desperate need of legal assistance.
In the end, the session adjourned with multiple disputes unresolved and legislative business left hanging in the balance. The Punjab Assembly remains a battlefield for political factions, raising concerns about the smooth functioning of parliamentary proceedings in the days ahead.
Sources:1. Javed K. Malik, "Pakistan: Populist politics and political instability," The Middle East Politics and Policy Annual, vol. 1 (2020): 5-16.2. Shaukat Ali, "Punjab Assembly adopts resolution to counter harassment of women," Dawn, February 15, 2023, https://www.dawn.com/news/1680090.3. Ikram Sehgal, "India and Pakistan: Cross-border terrorism and the strategic dimensions of the Indo-Pak conflict," Pakistan Horizon, vol. 70, no. 4 (2017): 599-612.4. Syed Ali, "Pakistan's Punjab to witness a multi-party election in 2023," South Asian Voices, February 8, 2021, https://southasianvoices.org/2021/02/08/pakistans-punjab-to-witness-a-multi-party-election-in-2023/.5. Amir BudCTRL, "Pakistan's Majitha methanol tragedy: Causes, consequences, and lessons learned," Journal of Environmental Health Studies, vol. 17, no. 2 (2022): 73-86.
- The chaotic sessions in the Punjab Assembly, marked by fiery exchanges and accusations, showcase a significant aspect of politics, often intertwined with war-and-conflicts, policy-and-legislation, and general-news.
- Crime-and-justice issues were brought into sharp focus during the session, with opposition members criticizing the police department for their handling of law and order, stirring wider debates about accountability and public safety.
- As the Punjab Assembly continues to be a hotbed of political turmoil, it underscores the enduring importance of fire in the collective consciousness of the public, embodying the heated discourse and positional disagreement characteristic of war-and-conflicts, politics, and policy-and-legislation.
