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LAHORE, Jul 22 (APP):Punjab Assembly Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmed Khan on Monday expressed anger over the opposition’s absence from the session they had requested themselves.
He said marking attendance solely for TA/DA and daily allowances was deceitful and
dishonest. He instructed the Law Department to inform the Speaker’s office within 24 hours on how to cover the expenses incurred from calling the session through requisition when the opposition did not attend.
The Punjab Assembly session, called on the opposition’s requisition, started one hour
and forty minutes late under the chairmanship of Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmed Khan.
The opposition did not attend their requested session, prompting the speaker to express his discontent, stating that the session was called on the opposition’s requisition but they showed non-seriousness.
During the session, government member Malik Arshad pointed out the quorum issue, leading to the session’s adjournment for five minutes due to an insufficient number of members. When the session resumed, Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmed Khan again expressed his anger towards the opposition’s behavior. The opposition had submitted the requisition but marked attendance only to receive TA/DA and daily allowances, which was deceitful and dishonest, he added.
The speaker read out the list of 60 members who marked their attendance, including Tanveer Aslam, Waqas Maan, Chaudhry Athar Maqbool, Farzana Faisal, Malik Fahd Masood, Farrukh Javed, Khayal Castro, Ahmed Mujtaba, Amir Muhammad Khan, Muhammad Ismail Sela, Jam Faisal, Iqbal Khattak, Syed Ijaz Bukhari, Asad Zaman Cheema, Razi Ullah Khan, Nadia Khar, Noor Shahid, Jam Aman Ullah, Salman Shah, Khalid Dogar, Khawaja Salahuddin, Dawood Khan Jatoi, Sonia Shah, Nadeem Sadiq Dogar, Sheikh Shahid Javed, Muhammad Azam Cheela, Chaudhry Tariq Gujar, Hassan Iqbal, Tashakul Abbas, Muhammad Naeem, Rana Abdul Razzaq, Hassan Zaka, Major (R) Sarwar, Ehsan Gujar, Hanbal Sana Karimi, Zarnab Sahi, Syed Rafat Mahmood, Yasir Qureshi, Izzat Javed Khan, Sher Akbar Khan, and Kaleem Ullah Khan.
Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmed Khan stated that the opposition members marked attendance only to receive a travel allowance of five to seven thousand rupees and daily allowances. The agenda of the session included discussions on law and order and food prices. It is the opposition’s duty to address these issues in front of the government and, if they believe these matters cause public distress, to discuss them in detail. The relevant minister should then provide a detailed response on the government’s policy, he added.
He said clearly that this attendance was deceitful and dishonest, only marked to receive TA/DA. He advised the Law Department to inform the Speaker’s office within 24 hours on how to cover the expenses if a session is called through requisition, an agenda is fixed, millions of rupees are spent, and the requisitioners do not attend. The speaker then announced that due to an incomplete quorum, the session is adjourned indefinitely.
Later, in a press conference, Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmed Khan stated that circumstances compelled him to address the public on this essential issue. A session of the Punjab Assembly called on the opposition’s requisition costs 27 million rupees per session. The opposition intends to take salaries from the assembly but also creates chaos by tearing up budget copies and making a fuss.
He said the opposition members marked attendance to receive a travel allowance of 7,000 rupees. Requests for rooms, chambers, official vehicles, and staff were coming from the opposition, he said, adding they wanted facilities but do not let the assembly function.
He said this was the first incident of its kind where the opposition submitted a requisition and did not attend themselves. “I have asked the law ministry about how expenses will be managed. The self-proclaimed honest people are not ready to leave even ten rupees. For the sake of ten thousand rupees, the sixty trustworthy and loyal followers of the PTI founder have committed a unique fraud,” he added.
He said a committee was formed for the code of conduct. Those who used abusive language should apologize in the assembly. “I will not allow anyone to use abusive language in the assembly,” he added.