ISLAMABAD: Acknowledging that the situation is not normal in any province, lawmakers mostly belonging to the ruling coalition on Monday talked about host of serious issues, including rising terrorism and floods, in the National Assembly, but in a non-serious environment.

Lawmakers protested the absence of ministers from the house at a time when the country had perhaps the largest cabinet in history, comprising more than 70 members, forcing Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf to issue a directive to senior ministers to take up the matter with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on his behalf and ensure the attendance of cabinet members.

Mr Ashraf said that even the prime minister should ensure his presence in the house, which had begun a general debate on the recent floods in Sindh and Balochistan after lawmakers refused to speak further in the absence of Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal.

Minister for Water Resources Syed Khursheed Shah told the speaker that he had raised the issue in the cabinet and had even asked the PM to be present in the house.

Khawaja Asif, Riaz Pirzada criticise PTI-led govts in Punjab, KP over deteriorating law, order situation

“Give importance to parliament. The planning minister should have come to the house and given a briefing on the floods,” said Mr Shah, wondering how they could morally ask ordinary members to attend the assembly if 75 cabinet members did not give importance to the house proceedings.

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Murtaza Javed Abbasi and Commerce Minister Naveed Qamar endorsed Mr Shah’s viewpoint and asked the speaker to take serious notice of the situation.

The speaker summoned the secretaries of the ministries which had not provided answers to the questions, asking them to appear before him in his chamber on Tuesday (today).

Khalid Magsi of the Balochistan Awami Party said the main objective of PPP and PML-N was to remove Imran Khan from power, which the two parties had achieved. Now, it seemed, they were not interested in running parliament, he said, asking ministers to resign and suggesting that ministries should be distributed among the allies.

Speaking on points of order, some ministers lambasted the PTI-led governments of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtun­khwa over the deteriorating law and order situation in the wake of recent incidents of terrorism and sectarianism and warned that the menace could grip the whole country, if immediate steps were not taken to control it.

North Waziristan MNA Mohsin Dawar drew the attention of the house towards the terrorist attack on a school van in Swat’s Char Bagh area earlier in the day, alleging a nexus between the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the ruling PTI in KP. He questioned the silence of the KP chief minister and the provincial ministers over the terror incidents in the province, and warned that “situation can go out of control any time”. Khawaja Asif held the KP government’s negligence responsible for the deteriorating law and order situation and suggested that the house should discuss the law and order situation in KP.

Human Rights Minister Riaz Pirzada decried the deteriorating law and order situation in Punjab. He disclosed that he had written a letter to the prime minister, drawing his attention towards the rising sectarianism in Punjab, asking him to act immediately “before it is too late.”

Published in Dawn, October 11th, 2022