Daily Times

The fiery session of Punjab Assembly will commence today (Thursday) at a time when the Punjab government is in hot waters due to several issues including the flour crisis and the reports of likely replacement of Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar. Speaker Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi summoned the 18th session of the ongoing assembly on the requisition submitted by the opposition. According to the assembly secretariat, the session will start at 3 PM in the assembly chambers. As per the rules of business of the provincial assembly of the Punjab, the Speaker is bound to convene the session within fourteen days of the submission of the requisition signed by 1/4th members of the House and the main opposition party PML-N has165 members in the house of 371 while only 93 members are required to summon the session. It is pertinent to mention here that it will be 8th session of the ongoing assembly that is summoned on the requisition of the opposition as it enjoys a good numbers in the House.

The government is likely to face severe criticism from the opposition benches led by the PML-N as the issue of Price Control is also on the agenda item and there will be general discussion on the Price Control in the House. The government is already on the back foot due to the recent flour and wheat crisis emerged in the province as the MPAs of both the treasury and opposition benches are criticizing the Buzdar-led Punjab government for the debacle. The Punjab government is already in the hot waters as MPAs belonging to the ruling party are not happy with their own government over the wheat issue. The MPAs of the government are criticizing the policy of importing the flour in background interviews as they think that the Punjab is self-sufficient in the wheat and this crisis is artificial and the government itself is responsible for it.

Govt to face tough time due to flour issue, debate on price control on the agenda, session summoned on opposition’s requisition

PML-N MPA Azma Zahid Bukhari lashed out at the government on Wednesday as the food department sent 40 bags of flour at her residence in Lahore because she was criticizing the government yesterday due to non-availability of flour for poor people. “The food department has tried to create a scene at my residence by sending some 30-40 flour bags as I complained in a TV interview yesterday that flour bags are not available in Model Town,” said MPA Azma Bukhari. She contacted the food controller regarding the episode and he said that it is for the poor people of the area. MPA said that the incompetent government must resign if we are supposed to tell them that which are the areas where the flour is not available as it is the duty of the government to find these areas.

Meanwhile, the parliamentary leader of PPP Syed Hassan Murtaza said that they will highlight the issue of flour and wheat in the House today as it is directly linked to the poor people. It is proved now that the government is incompetent and they are exposed in the eyes of people, he added. It is worth mentioning here that the Speaker Ch Pervaiz Elahi has also issued the production orders of detained MPAs of PML-N that includes Kh Salman Rafique and opposition leader Hamza Shahbaz. He has ordered the jail authorities to produce the both MPAs in the House to attend the session. Kh Salman Rafique will be brought from the Camp Jail while Hamza Shahbaz will come from the Kot Lakhpat Jail.