Lahore:
Tensions between the Ministry of Finance and the opposition laws appeared to have reached a boiling point on Tuesday after an alleged assault from an opposition MPA on a state treasury member, followed by tit-for-the-tax return of private guards of state lawmakers against opposition MPAs.
When House Proceedings was underway on Tuesday under the chairman of acting speeches Malik Zaheer Iqbal Channer, both the Treasury and Opposition Benches stood united to call it the darkest day in the assembly’s recent story, although each side painted another villain.
Treasury benches blamed the opposition on the opposition’s shoulders and accused its members of initiating the clash, while the opposition pointed fingers at the private guards of the treasury legislators and accused them of storming the assembly and attacking opposition MPAs.
Treasury members compared the opposition’s behavior with a repeat of the chaos on May 9 in the Punjab assembly and accused them of fanning disorder. The opposition, in turn, accused the treasury of panic by loosening private muscle inside the house.
Deputy opposition leader Muhammad Moeenuddin Riaz demanded rapid action and called for an immediate suspension of PML-nes Khalid Hassan Riaz, registration of a four against the private guards who accused of physical assaults of opposition lawmakers and threw violent language and suspension of the assembly head of security manager for not stopping the guards.
Defends the State Treasury’s position, provincial Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Mian Mujtaba Shuja Ur Rehman claimed MPA Hassan Riaz approached the chairman when opposition legislators began to heck him and subsequently attacked him.
He acknowledged that the incident inside the Media’s Hall justified a proper study.
However, he maintained that if FIRs are to be filed against those accused of attacking the opposition, cases should also be registered against the opposition -MPAs responsible for sowing anarchy within or outside the assembly chambers.
In the blame, however, the opposition seemed to keep the upper hand and build its argument about the involvement of private guards in the scrub and the suspension of its MPA, Sheikh IMTIAZ, who had simply pointed out the lack of cattle.
While the Ministry of Finance’s legislators repeatedly condemned the opposition MPA Khalid Nisar Dogar’s attack on Treasury MPA Hassan Riaz and accused Sheikh Imtiaz of using violent language against acting speaker Channer, brushing the opposition aside the allegations and insisted that the case was strictly within the four walls of the house. They argued, how could private hooligans be allowed to attack lawmakers? The opposition also rejected the claim that Sheikh Imtiaz had thrown any violent remarks, maintaining that the scrub was triggered by PML-N’s Hassan Riaz, who allegedly used inappropriate language first.
However, the acting speaker assured the house that a strict penalty was given if a private individual was proven.
Treasury Lawmaker Hassan Riaz Boikotted house talks over the nomination of opposition MPA Mian Ijaz Shafi to the committee, which was set up to investigate the attack from private individuals. He also demanded suspension of Shafi and claimed he was the actual cause of the scrub.
Meanwhile, Treasury Lawmaker Amina Perveen raised concerns about the delayed delivery of traffic challenge. She condemned that people are receiving outdated challengers at home instead of receiving them in time.
