The on-going session of the National Assembly has witnessed several unprecedented actions. Deputy Speaker Qasim Khan Suri’s ruling on Sunday that Imran Khan cannot be called a “selected prime minister” on the floor of the House is but one of such actions.
Interestingly, the ruling came on a point of order raised by Minister for Energy Umer Ayub Khan who suggested that the phrase is a breach of privilege of public representatives. The deputy speaker was quick to come up with his ruling and sternly dealt with Opposition members who tried to argue against it.
On the face of it, it is a nice ruling. Parliamentarians should not fall back to indecent and loaded language in the House. But it seems that both the minister and the deputy speaker are ultra-mindful of the image of the person of the prime minister. For the first time in the parliamentary history of the country, Treasury benches did not let a budget session proceed, heckling and interrupting the Leader of the Opposition for a disproportionately long time on the pretext of getting even for a presumed insult to the prime minister.
Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf top guns, including Naeemul Haq, went on record saying they would not let anybody who insulted the prime minister speak uninterrupted in the House. The Opposition pointed out that Imran Khan used to call the legislature a “parliament of thieves”.
In recent years, the PTI has taken political demagoguery to strange new highs and lows. Seeing that this seems to have worked for the party, other parties are now trying to catch up. Of course, everybody going in the same direction is a recipe for disaster. How can there be a substantial debate on budget? How else can the legislators serve the electorate?
The government has devoted all its energies to delivering the message to the masses that the inflation they have been hit by and the harsh new policies it is introducing are to be blamed on its predecessors. Hyperbole and demagoguery can start a fire and provoke sentiments of a tax-burdened people.
Perhaps the government understands this. Perhaps this is why it wants measures taken to protect the person of the prime minister from all criticism and the occasional slurs. It needs to understand that it takes two to tango. The prime minister is not going to be spared as long as the ministers and Treasury members continue hurling insults at Opposition leaders. Treasury benches should be extra careful in this regard. The Opposition cannot be expected to stop what it did not start. *