LAHORE: Leader of the Opposition in Punjab Assembly Hamza Shehbaz rejected the special committee constituted on a privilege motion moved against the opposition to probe the incident of hooliganism and ruckus that took place in the house during the budget speech of finance minister on October 16, 2018. Talking outside the Punjab Assembly after attending the protest camp of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) lawmakers, Hamza Shehbaz said that the inquiry committee formed by the government is one-sided as it has 10 members from the treasury benches and only two Members of Provincial Assembly are from the opposition who will also not attend the proceedings of the committee in protest. He was of the opinion that the suspension of “our six MPAs is based on falsehood and stern action should be taken against the speaker who himself damaged the sanctity of his office by issuing fake photographs of the ruckus in the house to media. The discussion on budget was not opened by the opposition leader for the first time ever in the whole history of Punjab Assembly despite the fact that we come here in the assembly with complete preparation on the budget and the speaker is responsible for this because he banned the entry of our MPAs in the house”, he said. He further added that National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser has maintained the tradition by issuing the production order of leader of the opposition in NA Shehbaz Sharif but the conduct of the speaker is altogether different here in Punjab. Meanwhile, another special committee of the house was constituted on Wednesday to ascertain the cost escalation of the projects delayed by the previous governments. Minister for Law & Parliamentary Affairs Raja Basharat apprised the house that the cost of several projects escalated manifold due to unnecessary and criminal delay by the previous government between 2007-2008. The said special committee will submit its report within two months with recommendations while fixing the responsibility for the neglect. Law Minister Raja Basharat would work as convener of the 12-member committee comprising of Minister for Public Prosecution Chaudhry Zaheeruddin, Finance Minister sMakhdoom Hashim Jawan Bakht, Communication & Works Minister Sardar Asif Nakai and MPAs Latasub Satti, Chaudhry Sajid Mahmood, Muneeb Sultan Cheema, Zainab Umair, Khadijah Umar, Rais Nabeel Ahmad, Ghulam Qasim Hinjra and Nazir Ahmad Chohan. Among this 12-member committee, only two MPAs are from the opposition benches that include Rais Nabeel of Pakistan People’s Party and Qasim Hinjra of PML-N while all other represent the government. During the budget session, MPAs from the treasury benches continued delivering their speeches on the budget in the absence of opposition that was staging sit-in at the stairs of the assembly against the suspension of six MPAs of PML-N. Abida Bibi, Momina Waheed, Javed Kausar and Mussarat Jamshed Cheema spoke on the budget while giving suggestions, proposals and complaints to the finance minister who was also present in the house. Concluding the discussion on the budget, the finance minister said that the opposition has once again failed to meet the trust of the people who gave them votes by not participating in the budget discussion. He thanked the parliamentarians from government side for focusing on collective problems of the province instead of their individual issues. Minister finance said that the budget session under the government of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was unique of its kind as no budget proposals will be rejected here and the proposals which could not become part of the present budget will be included in the next fiscal year budget. Makhdom Hashim Jawan Bakht said that most of the problems discussed in the assembly were regarding education, health, agriculture and clean water which were already included in the present budget presented by provincial government. The finance minister said that the PTI government in the province will not ignore south Punjab or Jhang and Attock. The opposition MPAs held their mock parallel budget session outside the assembly that was chaired by former speaker Rana Iqbal where PML-N lawmakers also delivered fiery speeches against the government. Published in Daily Times, October 25th 2018.