The incidents in the Punjab Assembly over the last few days are truly a spectacle. Never has the provincial assembly witnessed such ruckus and chaos that the government has been unable to even present the budget. The lawmakers have embarrassed the democratic process, parliament and themselves.
Punjab Assembly Pervez Elahi, who had a failed bid at becoming chief minister, has decided to settle scores with Hamza Shehbaz by not holding the budget session. He wants the government to apologize for unleashing violence on PTI support during the long march and withdraw cases. The government refused to accede to his demands to summon the IG Punjab and chief secretary to parliament.
The PML-N is also part of the problem as it doesn’t have the required numbers to pass the budget. Hamza relied on support from PTI dissidents to become chief minister but they have been disqualified. The by-elections to re-elect them will be held next month. Even if the government were to present the budget, it would be unable to pass from the assembly.
A seasoned politician like Pervez Elahi also shouldn’t use his office to settle scores and play havoc with the democratic system. The speaker should be impartial and conduct proceedings as per the rules and regulations. But these are different circumstances and the PML-N realizes he will create further trouble. Since the PML-N cannot remove him immediately, there are reports of restraining the speaker’s powers.
This is perhaps the first time in the nation’s history that the government has been unable to present the budget. The province is facing political and economic crises for the past few months which shows no signs of dissipating. To make matters more bizarre, there were even two separate sessions of the Punjab Assembly summoned in a single day.
The previous two days witnessed a complete breakdown of the constitutional process. The entire day and resources were wasted as lawmakers from both treasury and opposition exchanged barbs in parliament. PML-N’s Atta Tarar even displayed explicit gestures when he was evicted. The deadlock persisted between both sides and the budget speech was left on the stands.
Both sides should ensure the sanctity of the august House and maintain decorum. The speaker should shun his differences and run proceedings or step aside. They should realize that people of the largest province are being deprived of their constitutional right by not presenting the budget.
