Punjab budget session put off after ‘day-long drama’

The Punjab Assembly on Monday witnessed a daylong drama as Speaker Chaudhry Parvez Elahi refused to conduct the session and allow the provincial budget to be presented, demanding the inspector general of police (IGP) first tender an apology to him and all cases lodged against the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and PML-Q workers and parliamentarians be withdrawn.

After back-to-back meetings between the treasury and opposition for over six hours, followed by brief proceedings of the house, the speaker took a strong stance over the nonappearance of the chief secretary and the IGP and asserted that the proceedings would continue only when both officers were present in the assembly gallery. After keeping the proceedings paused till 11pm, Mr Elahi adjourned the session till 1pm on Tuesday (today) without allowing the presentation of the province’s budget for financial year 2022-23.

The provincial cabinet had earlier approved the Hamza Shehbaz-led Punjab government’s first budget of more than Rs3.226 trillion for the next fiscal year that included the highest-ever Annual Development Programme of Rs685b 22.3pc more than the ongoing ADP of Rs560b.

The PA session that was scheduled for 2pm could not commence on time owing to three six-hour-long meetings between the treasury and opposition members to reach a consensus on withdrawal of all the cases instituted against PTI and PML-Q workers and parliamentarians over the recent long march and violence in the assembly on April 16.

The speaker and the opposition committee agreed after marathon meetings that the matter of apology from the CS and IGP should be decided after a probe whether they were even guilty of misconduct.

The budget session proceedings then began a few minutes past 8pm, but again faced turbulence when the treasury’s unelected minister Attaullah Tarar entered the floor of the house, which was objected to by opposition member Chaudhry Zaheeruddin.

Speaker Elahi, who belongs to the opposition, immediately halted the session and called the sergeant-at-arms to accompany Tarar out of the house respectfully. The PML-N spokesman and minister was however adamant he would stay, and even sought the PA Rules of Business to look for any clause that could allow him to sit in the house. The treasury members also blocked the sergeant-at-arms from reaching Mr Tarar.

The session remained suspended for over an hour until Tarar eventually left the building. Before walking out, he addressed the speaker and said he had accepted his ruling in protest, adding he did not want to block the budget from being presented for the welfare of the 120 million people of Punjab. Just before leaving, Tarar raised the assembly rule book and made an obscene gesture towards the chair.

The minister later tweeted: “My ego is not as big as Parvez Elahi’s. I walked out in protest despite being a minister and taking oath under the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.”

During the time the proceedings remained suspended, the speaker changed his mind and issued a ruling that he would not allow the budget to be presented until the CS and IGP were called in the assembly.

“The treasury should call the chief minister in the house and also beseech the chief secretary and IGP to appear in the assembly gallery,” he taunted the treasury.

Earlier, there were no signs the budget session would begin as scheduled as almost no member from either bench was present in the house on time. The bells continued ringing, inviting the parliamentarians to take their seats. At the outset of the session, the treasury outrightly rejected both demands of the speaker and opposition regarding withdrawal of cases and calling the IGP to tender an apology over the police’s alleged torture on PTI and PML-Q parliamentarians in the assembly during the chief minister’s election in April.