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'Political speeches' with sporadic references to 'budget'

By: Ch Aamer Waqas
LAHORE - If the Opposition had promised not to point out the quorum of the Punjab Assembly, then it seems that the Treasury has absolved itself of the duty of coming to the floor, and actively participate in one of the most important debates of the parliamentary year, that is, post-budget general discussion.
On the last Friday, the House remained ‘adjourned’ for about hours because the Treasury members did not bother coming to the Assembly in-time, and on Saturday, this episode could have been repeated again, but the Opposition acted positively, and let the members half-heartedly deliver political-cum-budget ‘comments’ while the presence continuously kept on thinning as the time passed.
During the 5-hour long proceedings, not more than four ministers remained present simultaneously. The Treasury and Opposition members, while the latter being more vociferous about it, repeatedly pointed this out.
At one point of time, neither Finance Minister Tanvir Ashraf Kaira nor his department’s secretary Tariq Mahmood Pasha was present. PPP’s Syed Hassan Murtaza pointed this out to the Chair. Minister Minorities Kamran Michael immediately stood up, and told the House that he was taking points. But Hassan took notebook from Michael, and showed to all blank pages.
Moreover, barring a few, it was rare to find any member speaking on the subject, as they persistently skirted around the subject while punctuating the ‘political speeches’ with sporadic references to ‘budget’.
No one restricted himself to the stipulated time of 10 minutes, and if the Chair objected to it, the members retorted asserting that they needed more time. Opposition’s Amina Ulfat went to the extent of staging a walkout, when she was denied more time.
On the other hand, over a year had elapsed since the incumbents came to power, and this coalition government has presented its second budget, but its members are repeating the same demands this time around as well, while pointing out that they were raising the issues again for the second time. This was especially true of PML-Q defector-cum-forward bloc-member turned PML-Q man - and now sitting on the edge again, and waiting to make yet another wrong move - Sheikh Alauddin, who wanted that the government should revisit its vehicle registration policy, halt chopping of forests, especially Changa Manga, and levy tax on beauty parlours.