LAHORE: The Opposition on Monday did not allow the Punjab Assembly to sustain proceedings through sheer force of protest and loud sloganeering, forcing the chair to adjourn the House within 30 minutes of the start.

The Opposition has been threatening to ‘disrupt business of the House’ unless Faisal Subhan of the Multan Metro Bus project who has been allegedly missing after the charges that he had transferred money to the chief minister’s accounts surfaced and he faced further inquiries.

Immediately after the start of the session at 2:50pm, Leader of the Opposition Memoodur Rasheed stood on a point of order and said: “Faisal Subhan has been missing ever since he revealed transfer of money in his confessional statement. The Punjab government says that the Chinese side had apologised for earlier misreporting on the issue. But, according to our information, the issue is still alive and the Chinese authorities have written to the Punjab government again, asking for more details.

“Similar is the case of Ahad Cheema. Instead of suspending him from service for alleged corruption and let an impartial inquiry take place, he was promoted overnight to the next grade. The entire bureaucracy was made, or allowed, to go on strike to save the man. It was also because they know that they may be next ones landing in the investigation cells of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). Cheema is just a tool, the real culprits are the political masters.”

Rasheed leads diatribe against corruption in mega projects

Mr Rasheed said all the companies (formed by the Punjab government) and projects had huge question marks over them and it was the duty of Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif to himself apprise the House of details of these projects and companies. He should personally come to the House and educate members on financial details and agreements as all the projects were running on public money and property of this House, he added

As soon Rasheed ended his diatribe, other members of the Opposition also wanted to speak on the same issue. Deputy Speaker Sher Ali Gorchani, who was officiating for Speaker Rana Iqbal, refused to oblige them, stoking boisterous protest in the House which made everything else inaudible and incomprehensible. The entire opposition, with its unusually heavy presence, gathered around Speaker’s place and continued with high-pitched sloganeering.

The Treasury responded in the same coin, turning the House into a proverbial fish market. For the next 15 minutes, it was more of a shouting match between both the sides and the chair adjourned the proceedings for today (Tuesday).

Leaving the House, the Opposition members started doing outside it what they had left inside, occupying the stairs of the House. It added anti-corruption and anti-Shahbaz placards to the protest and continued the protest and sloganeering.

The Leader of the Opposition, addressing the media, repeated what he had just said inside the House.

“We want personal appearance of the chief minister in the House and seek explanation of each penny spent on mega projects like the Multan Metro Bus and Lahore Orange Line projects. The PTI also wants to know how civil servants could go on strike without the nod of the chief minister,” Rasheed said.

The protest continued for around 20 minutes before the Opposition dispersed, promising to return and continue tomorrow.

Published in Dawn, February 27th, 2018