Speaking on a point of order in the National Assembly, the PPP's information secretary, MNA Fauzia Wahab, described the 'political statement' by Justice Sharif as unprecedented, urging the Chief Justice of Pakistan to take suo motu notice.

The Lahore High Court chief justice, in a speech at a lawyers' function in Hafizabad on Tuesday, had said “If the PPP has objection to the appointment of Rana Maqbool (a former IGP) as secretary prosecution, then it should quit Punjab coalition (government).”

He also said he has had “cordial relations with the Sharif family for the past 40 years, but these relations had never become a hurdle in delivering justice”.

Speaking on a point of order, Ms Wahab said “It is a strange political statement by the Chief Judge of LHC in which he advised PPP to quit the Punjab government if it feels uneasy with PML-N.” The PPP firebrand first talked to the prime minister before raising a point of order. Roars of 'shame shame' were heard during her brief but forceful speech.

While the house generally looked attentive, there was a marked silence on PML-N benches as no one tried to intervene or reply to the PPP leader's speech.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani left the house as soon as Ms Wahab's point of order was complete.

She further stated “I would like to request Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry to take suo motu notice of the LHC CJ's extremely objectionable political statement.”

PML-N-PPP COMPROMISE The lower house unanimously passed a bill to pave the way for setting up of a high court in Islamabad, but not before the ruling PPP and PML-N agreed that in future all legislation would be done by consensus and the government would not bulldoze any piece of law by suspending the rules.

The National Assembly had passed the bill to provide for establishment of a high court for Islamabad Capital Territory on May 10 by suspending rules, attracting criticism of the opposition.

The Senate rejected the bill on May 13 and sent it to the law committee for a review.

Law Minister Dr Babar Awan, who piloted the bill, accused the PML-N of obstructing passage of the bill.

However, the prime minister stepped in to calm frayed tempers, proposing another round of consultations between the two parties.

Anusha Rahman of the PML-N opposed the bill. “We do not want to oppose the bill, but we oppose the procedure adopted for its passage.”

During the break for Maghrib prayers, the two sides put heads together to iron out differences. The PML-N assured the PPP that it would block passage of the bill and the latter promised not to suspend rules for any legislation.

Walkout

Earlier, MQM legislators staged a walkout against “illegal occupation” of the house of their colleague Dr. S.A. Qadri in Karachi while he was away Islamabad for the National Assembly's budget session.

The MQM lawmakers, however, returned to the house on persuasion by Interior Minister Rehman Malik. He said he had ordered immediate action against the culprits and evacuation of the house.

An MQM legislator raised the delay in construction of N-9 (Karachi motorway) by the federal government on “one pretext or the other”, leading to lapse of funds allocated for the project last year.