Daily Times

The opposition in Punjab Assembly led by the PML-N has once again demanded the production orders of all the MPAs, including the opposition leader, who are in the detention of NAB these days.

The legislators of PML-N asked the Speaker Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi to issue the production orders of MPAs as it was the initiative of Elahi himself to make legislation regarding the production orders for the first time in the parliamentary history of Punjab.

The 14th session of Punjab Assembly was started on Monday evening with the delay of more than 2 hours from its scheduled time of 3 pm with Ch Pervaiz Elahi in the chair. As the session started, the PML-N lawmakers demanded production orders for the opposition leader Hamza Shehbaz while saying that it is the right of his constituency, voters and the entire opposition to be represented in the House by Hamza who is holding the most coveted office of the leader of the opposition as well as MPA.

Speaking on a point of order, MPA Samiullah Khan of PML-N said that the law of production orders was going to be the historic legislation of the Punjab but the government itself is destroying the sanctity of this very law by not issuing the production orders of MPAs. “I can really understand your compulsions that you are a coalition partner of the government and may be facing some bindings as well. But the law of production orders was your credit and the government is discrediting it,” said Samiullah Khan while addressing to the Chair Elahi. He was of the view that the law of production order was made when Aleem Khan of PTI and Kh Salman Rafique of PML-N were in the custody of NAB and both used to attend the proceedings of the House soon after the passage of the law. I want to ask that from where the order came not to issue the production orders when Hamza Shehbaz was detained by NAB, he said. He went on to say that the strings of the Punjab are being pulled from somewhere else instead of the province itself. He further added that the order of not issuing the production orders of incarcerated Hamza Shehbaz, Kh Salman Rafique and Sibtain Khan is more powerful than the Punjab government itself. The treasury MPAs chanted slogans against the leadership of PML-N during the speech of Samiullah Khan that Speaker had to intervene. Elahi snubbed PTI’s Uzma Kardar and warned her to oust from the House if she continues making noise.

MPA Sardar Awais Laghari said that Hamza Shehbaz is representing his constituency and the whole opposition but the government is suppressing the voice of the opposition through its tactics. “Will inflation increase if Hamza Shehbaz comes in the House or the South Punjab province will be formed,” said Laghari, an MPA from DG Khan, in a sarcastic tone. Former Speaker Rana Iqbal, Rana Mashhood, Kh Imran Nazir and PPP’s Syed Hassan Murtaza also raised the similar concerns while speaking on the point of orders. In his response, minister for law and parliamentary affairs Raja Basharat said that the production order isn’t a binding on the Speaker as the word of ‘may’ was used in the law instead of ‘shall’. We’ll resolve the issue of production orders in consensus with the opposition after thorough deliberations, he said. “The government will respond in accordance with the law if Speaker issues the production orders of any MPA,” law minister said. The government laid two ordinances while one bill was also introduced in the House. The Punjab Aab-e-Pak Authority (Amendment) Ordinance 2019 and The Rawalpindi Women University Ordinance 2019 were laid while The Punjab Workers Welfare Fund Bill 2019 was also introduced in the House. The government couldn’t complete the agenda items due to the collapse of the quorum and now the session will resume today (Tuesday).