A view of the National Assembly.—File Photo

ISLAMABAD: Government’s allies led protests in the National Assembly on Wednesday against the latest increase in domestic oil prices, apparently forcing a day’s delay for a vote on a Constitution amendment to validate more than 20 post-18th Amendment by-elections.

Lawmakers of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), the second largest ally in the Pakistan People’s Party-led coalition government, were the first to stage a token walkout to protest against up to six per cent overnight increases in the prices of petroleum products at the start of the new session of the house, and much after their return to chamber, the Pakistan Muslim League-N, the largest opposition party, staged its own walkout on the same issue.

And then, Talib Hassan Nakai of the PML-Q spoke both for the second largest partner in the coalition and a house standing committee on petroleum that he chairs to oppose the price hike which he said Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani should announce to withdraw.Bushra Gohar of the Awami National Party, another government ally, came out last with her party’s demand that the government withdraw or reduce the price hike and reiterating an earlier proposal of ANP president Asfandyar Wali for constituting a special bipartisan committee to evolve a new pricing formula.

Only minutes before that, the prime minister entered the house apparently after consultations in his chambers with PPP chief whip Khursheed Ahmed Shah, who heralded Mr Gilani’s arrival to usual desk-thumping from the treasury benches, arousing speculations about a possible announcement from the government.

But just as the ANP member finished speaking, and while PML-N information secretary Ahsan Iqbal rose apparently to move a resolution calling for the withdrawal of the price increases by the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority, acting speaker Faisal Karim Kundi, who chaired the day’s proceedings, spared the government possible embarrassment by abruptly adjourning the house until 5pm on Thursday.

Mr Iqbal, in a speech before leading the PML-N walkout, had asked government allies opposed to higher oil prices to sign a resolution with his party to ask the government to withdraw the increases, and was later seen going to the desks of several lawmakers on both sides of the house for their signatures on a paper that could have been his draft of the resolution.

Mr Nakai of the PML-Q also said that his standing committee, which included PPP members, had authorised him in a meeting earlier in the day to speak on its behalf in the house against the price increases and demand their withdrawal.

It was also in the beginning of the evening sitting after the MQM walkout and the presentation of a report of the standing committee on law, justice and parliamentary affairs on the Constitution (Twentieth Amendment) Bill that the PPP chief whip suggested the deferment, until Thursday, of motions on the agenda for suspension of a rule to enable the house to immediately take up and then pass the brief bill.

The two-clause draft seeks to give legal cover to by-elections to 23 seats of the two houses of parliament and provincial assemblies challenged on the ground of having been held when the Election Commission was not complete with the appointment of four of its members as stipulated by the 18th Amendment.

The coalition says it has two-thirds majorities in both the 342-seat National Assembly and the 100-seat Senate required for the passage of a constitutional amendment, but the claim has never been put to a practical test as the previous two landmark amendments that restored a genuine parliamentary system and granted more autonomy to provinces were passed unanimously with a historic agreement between the government and opposition parties.

Mr Shah gave no reason when he sought the deferment of the new bill, to which the acting speaker agreed. But the move appeared to have been influenced by the stance of key government allies on oil prices lest any of them made the issue a ground for staying away from voting to deny the bill the required support by a minimum of 228 members while the PML-N, with its 90 members in the National Assembly and seven in the Senate, has already said it will oppose the bill for unexplained reasons and its members boycotted a meeting of the house standing committee on Monday that approved the government draft with minor amendments.