Daily Times

The opposition in Punjab Assembly led by the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz on Tuesday submitted the requisition to call the session of the assembly. The requisition was submitted in the secretariat of Punjab Assembly while senior PML-N MPAs also had a meeting with Secretary Punjab Assembly Muhammad Khan Bhatti on Tuesday regarding the session. As per the details, senior lawmakers of PML-N including MPA Samiullah Khan (PP-144), MPA Pir Ashraf Rasool (PP-137) and MPA Malik Nadeem Kamran (PP-197) submitted the requisition on behalf of the opposition benches to convene the session. According to the rules of business of the Punjab Assembly, 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 PML-N has 166 members in the house of 371 while only 93 MPAs are required to submit the requisition.

The opposition lawmakers want general debate on the law and order situation, the episode of Maryam Nawaz outside the NAB office, agriculture and inflation during the session.

Talking to Daily Times, MPA Samiullah Khan said that the largest province of Pakistan is being controlled from Banigala and therefore its problems have been increased manifold. “The law and order situation of Punjab is not good while the incidents of street crime are also on the rise and one can also see the killings of innocent people due to kite flying,” said MPA Samiullah Khan. He further added that Maryam Nawaz was attacked by the Punjab Police outside the NAB office and the workers of PML-N were beaten. Where are the tall claims of reforming the police? Is this the police force that you made in two years? These are the questions that we want to raise in the House during the session, he added. He was of the view that the PML-N will raise the issues being faced by the poor farmers and inflation that has badly hit the masses in the House. “We’ll also urge the government to hold the Local Bodies elections immediately as it couldn’t be held despite the PTI’s promise of conducting LG elections within a year,” MPA Samiullah Khan said. He was of the view that PPP parliamentary leader Syed Hassan Murtaza is also on board with us regarding the session and he has talked to him.

An insider, privy to the development, told this scribe that the government itself is planning to summon the Punjab Assembly session on September 2 next month as it doesn’t want that the first session of new parliamentary year be convened on the opposition’s requisition. “If the government convenes session itself within 14 days and accommodates our issues in it, then, our requisition would be considered as withdrawn if all matters are settled in the business advisory meeting,” said Samiullah Khan, who is also the member of business advisory in Punjab Assembly.

Talking to Daily Times, MPA Pir Ashraf Rasool, another signatory to the requisition, said that convening the Punjab Assembly session is the need of the hour keeping in view the problems being faced by the masses these days. “I am in the constituency politics for last two decades. We are in regular contact with the people and they are extremely disturbed due to the prevailing situation here. Their issues must be highlighted in this very august House that represents the people,” said MPA Pir Ashraf. He further added that the people are getting excessive utility bills at a time when they are already hit by the financial crunch due to the COVID-19 and he will raise it in the House during the session.