PA extends period of four ordinances amid rumpus

LAHORE: The proceedings of the Punjab Assembly’s session on Thursday were rowdy and disruptive as neither treasury nor opposition members focused on the agenda at hands but continued to engage the opposing side for point scoring. The opposition pointed out the lack of quorum three times but somehow the government managed to maintain it or the chair announced the House to be in quorum, and continued to proceed further with the agenda without the opposition’s participation.The rumpus, loud sloganeering and exchange of harsh comments dominated the day’s proceedings, while the chair, held by panel of chairmen Mian Mohammad Shafi helplessly tried to bring the situation in order. Taking advantage of the small number of opposition members, the treasury proceeded to extend the period of validity of four ordinances and also laid the same number of audit reports before the House.Trouble overtook the House proceedings when PML-N’s Samiullah Khan stood on his seat to count the number of MPAs in the House after his side had pointed out quorum. The treasury members began raising slogans against him and shouted ‘shame’, ‘shame’, while the chair remarked that the MPA who could make correct counting of members in the House should get a ministry.The rumpus that followed saw the opposition legislators making strong protests against the behaviour of not only the treasury members but also the chair. They stood up, tore apart copies of the agenda and resorted to sloganeering against the ruling party.Later, PML-N’s Sheikh Allauddin stressed the need for effective legislation to save children from abuse and physical dangers. He said there was an urgent need for starting a campaign in Lahore and adjoining areas. Law Minister Raja Basharat said that there were several incidents of assault on children in the past. He said the administration had resolved issues at the local level. He said that the government was taking measures for curbing the menace of abuse of children. He lamented that the opposition continued the practice of making a hue and cry during proceedings on government business. He said the opposition members could not sit and behave even for a few minutes for serious business in the House, reminding that on the previous day they fled the House.Amid rumpus, the House extended the period of four ordinances-the Punjab Agricultural Marketing Regulatory Authority (Amendment) Ordinance 2019, the Punjab Local Government (Amendment) Ordinance 2019, the Punjab Village Panchayats and Neighbourhood Councils (Amendment) Ordinance 2019 and the Punjab Local Government (Second Amendment) Ordinance 2019 for 90 days with majority. The law minister also laid audit reports on the accounts of revenue receipts of government of the Punjab for 2017-18, Public Sector Companies, government of the Punjab for 2017-18, Disaster Management Organizations for 2017-18 and C&W, HUD&PHE, Irrigation, LG&CD Departments and Infrastructure Development Authority Punjab (IDAP) for 2018-19.

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