Punjab Finance and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Mujtaba Shuja-ur-Rehman has openly termed the opposition as ‘rowdy’ and ‘rude’ in the Punjab Assembly during the last five months. He alleged that they have continued to disregard the procedures of parliament and most of its standing orders.
Still, for all these hurdles, Shuja-ur-Rehman appreciated Speaker Malik Ahmed’s saneness and tolerance. Speaking to the media he highlighted the fact that the Speaker gave the opposition ample chance to express themselves despite the rude they displayed to him. Treasury members on the other hand, more often than not, could not even utter a word.
The minister admitted to having received many plaints from other MPs regarding the Speaker having given the opposition more time. He noted that it took five months for the door to be opened on the understanding that due to unruly behavior of the opposition members bans according to Assembly rules were put in place. He pointed out that the opposition is free to stage their demonstrations the way they want, where and when they want but should not be a nuisance to other people especially at the Assembly.
Referencing Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif’s strategy, Shuja-ur-Rehman quoted her first speech in the Punjab assembly in which she focused on cooperation with the opposition. She gave the assurance to the opposition leader that any constructive criticism would be greatly welcomed and acted upon but what she would not entertain is criticism for the sake of criticism. Nonetheless, this aggressive line was clearly negatively received and the opposition kept on making use of disruptive and abusive language.
It is your behavior that is uncalled for and incorrect Shuja-ur-Rehman added that this was not how members had behaved in the past, least of all during the PTI regime wherein Usman Buzdar was the Chief Minister. He underlined that when Maryam Nawaz was in the chair of the chief ministership, Punjab had the most development ever in the history of the province, and more projects were launched in five months than PTI did in the tenure. On this, he proposed that the progress was something that the opposition could not easily come to terms to accept.