LAHORE: Lack of interest shown by the Punjab legislators, including the chief minister, to participate in the parliamentary proceedings has halted the workings of the Punjab Assembly, besides damaging the spirit of democracy. The session on Friday was the fifth consecutive day when the Punjab Assembly proceedings were stopped due to lack of quorum, maintenance of which was the basic responsibility of the government that calls the session for laying, introducing and passing of important bills. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz has more than 300 seats out of the total 371 in the Punjab Assembly. However, considering the poor attendance of Leader of the House Shahbaz Sharif, other party members also take liberty and refrain from attending the assembly proceedings. As per rules, one-fourth of the total strength of the house—93 legislators—is required to complete the quorum for treasury benches. On the other hand, the mini-opposition in Punjab Assembly comprises less than 50 legislators. With less than 93 members, the opposition cannot complete a session without the presence of government legislators. According to the FAFEN’s annual report regarding the attendance of the members of MPAs, 46 percent lawmakers remained absent from each sitting while every proceeding started 77 minutes behind its scheduled time due to the members’ lack of presence. Despite reaching his chamber in the assembly secretariat before the scheduled time, Speaker Rana Iqbal has to wait for substantial amount of time for a number of his colleagues to start the session. It was observed that some legislators come to the assembly but do not enter into the assembly chamber to participate in the proceedings, and instead return back after marking their attendance on the registers. It is worth mentioning that some extra financial incentives were also fixed for the attendants of the assembly session in addition to their regular monthly salaries and other facilities. It is also generally observed that only one or two ministers, Chaudhry Sher Ali and Khalil Tahir Sindhu, participate in the session from start to end, while others usually prefer avoiding the sessions due to other ‘important engagements’. Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Rana Sanaullah is also one of the regular participants of the assembly proceedings, especially during the call attention notice and government business sessions. It was observed that the attendance of legislators as well as bureaucrats was usually on the higher side whenever the chief minister addressed the session. However, on routine days, bureaucrats prefer avoiding the assembly, as they are required to face tough questions regarding the CM’s lack of participation and attendance in the assembly. On Friday, for the first time in the history of Punjab Assembly, only 11 questions were asked regarding the Revenue and Colonies Department during the question hour of which only three were replied, while the bureaucrats did not even bother to contemplate on the remaining nine questions, including one pertaining to land grabbers in Journalist Housing Colony. The three questions that were replied by the department were also not taken up for debate, as the movers of these questions were absent from session. Later, the speaker adjourned the session till Monday due to lack of quorum, which was pointed out by opposition member Ahmad Shah Khaga.