ISLAMABAD: Legislative business took a back seat in the National Assembly when treasury lawmakers – in the absence of their senior leadership – decided to have some fun with the outnumbered opposition. With most of the benches on both sides of the aisle empty on Wednesday, those in attendance sought to ease their ennui with some banter and name-calling, which bordered on the distasteful.

The first salvos came from Sheikh Aftab Ahmed, the state minister for parliamentary affairs who is the government’s point man for parliament. When the government’s plans for the embattled flag carrier and its step-sister, Pakistan Airways Limited, came under fire during Question Hour, the minister rushed to his party’s defence.

“When the PML-N came to power in 2013, we found a Pakistan that was looted and plundered,” he said, with a knowing nod towards the PPP members seated to his right. This caused a brief commotion, but Deputy Speaker Murtaza Javed Abbasi ignored the ruckus.

He then evaded a series of questions regarding the government’s plans for the new airline, which annoyed PTI Whip Dr Shireen Mazari. Recounting the horrors of travelling through Benazir Bhutto International Airport, she asked the minister what kind of international standards were being observed at the country’s various terminals.

Treasury members engage outnumbered opposition with banter, name-calling

In response, Shiekh Aftab quipped, “In the United States, they strip search you at airports. Are those the international standards you mean,” and ducked back into his seat as the treasury benches erupted in laughter.

The shouting had just died down when his cabinet colleague and IT minister Anusha Rehman stood up to answer a supplementary query. But rather than getting to the point, the minister took some time to paraphrase her colleague’s remarks about the previous government.

“Everything was done on an ad-hoc basis in my ministry when I took over. Alas! If something, anything had been accomplished in the last five years, things would have been very different,” she said, savouring every word.

This proved too much for the PPP’s Dr Nafisa Shah, who stood up in her seat to protest. Ms Rehman, who

was clearly enjoying every minute of the uproar, then gestured towards the opposition in a provocative manner.

This riled them up even more. Sensing that something might give, the deputy speaker allowed Nawab Yousaf Talpur to raise a point of order, where he protested the IT minister’s remarks and her gestures. Through all of this, Ms Rehman appeared very pleased with herself and kept high-fiving her neighbour, NHS minister Saira Afzal Tarar.

But she wasn’t done yet.

As Question Hour neared its end and the presiding officer eyed the clock, Ms Rehman was responding to another supplementary question, raised by Jamaat-i-Islami’s Ayesha Syed regarding the IT ministry’s performance.

Not content with simply dismissing her query, the minister went further and alleged that Ms Syed was unhappy because she had asked for a personal favour, which the minister claimed to have turned down. This assertion seemed to upset the JI lawmaker, who could have pushed for a privilege motion against this breach.

However, the deputy speaker turned a blind eye to her protestations as well and the matter looked to have fizzled out.

Published in Dawn, March 17th, 2016