LAHORE, Feb 10: The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) rescued on Tuesday Pakistan Muslim League-Q’s (PML-Q) Moonis Elahi by having averted a Punjab Assembly debate on his alleged grabbing of a farm in Rahim Yar Khan, making Speaker Rana Iqbal to refer the issue to a house committee for probe.
PML-N Law Minister Rana Sanaullah said the debate had just been deferred and not withdrawn.
PPP’s Qasim Zia first neutralised the initiator of the issue, Makhdoom Syed Ahmad Mahmood, and then made the law minister to support it. The speaker referred the issue to a house committee as proposed by Mr Zia, but said he would announce its members in consultation with Mr Rana and Leader of the Opposition Chaudhry Zaheeruddin afterwards.
The issue was raised in the Punjab Assembly last week through an adjournment motion moved by Mr Mehmood. It was accepted and the speaker fixed a two-hour debate on it on Tuesday.
Mr Zia intervened when PML-Q MPAs and Mr Ahmad Mehmood started trading allegations in the very beginning of the session.
PML-Q’s Khalid Javaid Gharal pointed out a news item accusing Mr Mehmood of grabbing his family’s property. The PML-Q women did not allow him to say any further when he mentioned the Rahim Yar Khan farm land. They continued to shout at Mr Mehmood despite repeated directions by the speaker to let him defend himself against the allegations.
At this stage, Mr Qasim stood up to criticise the politics of targeting personalities which he said he had been observing for the past one week in the house. He asked Mr Mehmood and the opposition to refrain from doing this and instead move towards real democracy.
He said the practice would allow “undemocratic forces” to sabotage democracy. “We will become a laughing stock for others by slinging mud on each other. Remember, people are already accusing us of not taking care of the democracy,” he said, adding no one wanted to spare the corrupt but there should be no personal attacks.
Mr Mahmood appeared to be reluctant to accept the advice of Mr Zia but he went to the lobby with him when asked by the speaker soon afterwards. Both of them later took Mr Zaheeruddin and Mr Sanaullah with them and returned to the house after consultation.
Here, Mr Zia announced that Mr Mahmood had agreed to his suggestion that the matter of Mr Elahi should be referred to a house committee.
He suggested that in fact all such issues should be sent to the committee in future instead of discussing them in the house.
Mr Mahmood said he had accepted the advice because Mr Zia belonged to a big political party.
The law minister said he had agreed to the proposal because it had saved assembly’s two hours which were to be spent on the debate. The issue had directly been referred to the committee and its fact finding report would be submitted in the house along with a report by the Board of Revenue which was also conducting an inquiry and had sent an initial report earlier in the day.
He reiterated his stance when PML-N’s Mian Rafique objected to what he said “the hushing up” of the issue, saying the house would discuss the issue after receiving reports. “The debate has just been deferred,” he said.
The relief proved short-lived when PML-Q MPA Samina Khawar Hayat pointed out that remarks against main PML-Q leaders expunged by the speaker during an earlier session did exist in the official record. “Withdraw these words or we will move a privilege motion.”
The speaker wondered as to how it could happen, the law minister, however, said: “Let them move the motion and we will not oppose it to decide the allegations against them.”
Minister Chaudhry Ghafoor started reciting poetry to fan the issue and the law minister said the remarks could not now be expunged even when the speaker asked the assembly staff to do so.
Further embarrassment was avoided by Mr Zaheeruddin who intervened despite shouting by Ms Hayat and others whom the speaker advised to always consult their leader before making any move.
QUESTION HOUR: Mr Sanaullah agreed to a proposal by Mr Zaheeruddin to hold a debate on the shortage of urea on Thursday after a number of MPAs protested that its non-availability was affecting farmers all over the province.
The issue was raised during question hour on agriculture. Agriculture Minister Ahmad Ali Aulakh said the country produced 4.8 million tons of urea as against its demand of 5.7 million tons.
PPP MPA Rai Safdar Abbas Bhatti from Layyah said he had to snatch his share of 400 urea bags at gunpoint when the DCO did not give it to him in the presence of the minister.Unaware of the consequences of his statement despite the warning by the speaker that it was better for him to sit down, the MPA continued to confront the minister. He finally stopped when Senior Minister Raja Riaz went to his seat to make him see the reason.
The minister said that the federal government had imported urea but there was still shortage of 1.5 million ton. He said urea was no longer required for wheat but the farmers were buying it for the next crop.
Mr Riaz said the federal government had given 300,000 urea bags to Punjab. The shortage now was just 15 per cent which would be removed in next five days, he said.
The speaker said urea should be available in the country much before the sowing of a crop, asking the minister to ask the federal government to regularise the supplies.
The minister said the province had requested the federal government to import urea in October last year but it started the process in December.
The remarks by the minister could not satisfy many PML-Q and PML-N MPAs who alleged that the government was not sincere in helping farmers.
The most vociferous was Sanaullah Masti Khel who said the ministers were making false claims as farmers in his constituency were still without urea. He staged a walk out as a protest but later returned to the house on the request of the speaker.
To a question by PPP’s Syed Hasan Murtaza, the minister earlier said that the government had got appointed special judges in every district through the Lahore High Court to punish those selling adulterated pesticides. “We have seized Rs285.8 million such pesticides from all over the province,” he said.
ADJOURNMENT MOTIONS: An adjournment motion by Sheikh Allauddin was disposed off after the law minister said the government would contact the inter-board committee of chairmen to resolve the issue of equivalence of ‘O’ and ‘A’ level grades for admission to medical colleges before the next admissions.
The speaker kept pending another motion by Mr Allauddin till Monday on the request of the law minister. The mover wanted to agitate the issue of corruption in the property tax department and Minister Mujtaba Shujaur Rehman had failed to satisfy him.
The minister invited criticism by the mover when he said that majority officials of the department were honest. Action was taken against only 15 per cent tax evaders only after adopting all legal procedures. A majority people paid taxes and were respected by the department, he said.
The mover said that property tax collectors should be transferred to other departments despite explanation by the minister that this could not be done under the law. “Then why you make patwaris distribute urea and flour,” he replied when the speaker supported the minister.The speaker kept pending till Monday a motion by opposition’s three MPAs to discuss police action in Gujrat’s Zamindara College.
RESOLUTIONS: As it was a private members day, the house adopted two resolutions while one was kept pending till the next private members day as it was opposed by the law minister.
The first resolution was moved by PML-Q’s Amna Ulfat. It asked the provincial government to revise the rent allowance of its employees in all metropolitan cities in view of rising transport fares.
The second adopted resolution was tabled by nearly 25 MPAs asking the Punjab government to take immediate steps to develop and promote Islamic modes of banking along lines with polices, instructions and criteria as laid down by the State Bank of Pakistan for the promotion of Islamic banking here.
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