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ISLAMABAD - Poor planning and lack of focus on the 2012-13 budget cost the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)-led coalition heavily on Wednesday when the acting National Assembly speaker had to adjourn the proceedings for Thursday due to lack of quorum.
The protesting members of the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) remained successful in getting the proceedings adjourned, as they confined themselves to the parliament’s lobby under a planned move. One of their members arrived in the assembly hall, pointing out the lack of quorum to disrupt the proceedings, and left before the counting of the members could start. The mysterious absence of PPP and its allied parties’ lawmakers also helped the opposition party’s plan, although the House proceedings started an hour later than its schedule time. The lack of quorum also embarrassed the leadership of the ruling party and its chief whip Khursheed Shah also looked annoyed with his party members for delayed arrival in the house. It was PML-N’s lawmaker Chaudhry Saud Majeed who pointed out the quorum twice, and immediately rushed to the lobbies to keep himself out from the counting, which started by the order of Acting Speaker Faisal Karim Kundi.
During the first count, the House proceedings remained suspended for almost half an hour before the quorum was completed. On counting, only 59 members were present in the House against the required number of 86 to maintain the quorum. On the second occasion when the proceedings were suspended briefly due to the shortage of required strength, the PPP managed to bring back its members in the legislature. However, as the House resumed its proceedings, PML-N members present in large numbers in the lobbies, rushed to the House by assembling before the speaker’s chair to protest against the government.
Anticipating protest from the PML-N members, the acting speaker adjourned the proceedings for Thursday, while two and a half hours were consumed by the budget debate.
Despite the adjournment of the proceedings, the PML-N members remained in the House for some time and raised slogans against the government by taunting it for escaping from the House.
Earlier, Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM)’s parliamentary leader in National Assembly Dr Farooq Sattar picked up his speech where he had left the day before, saying that in view of the process of normalisation of relations between India and Pakistan, the increase in defence budget was “unnecessary”. He also called for opening trade with India through the border at Bahawalpur, besides starting ferry service between Karachi and Mumbai.
On Energy crisis, Sattar believed that the issue could be resolved by allocating all funds to this sector and discarding the amount allocated for construction of roads, laying of new gas pipelines and erecting new electricity poles, saying those were not the priorities at the moment.
He also urged the government to reduce indirect taxes from 68 percent to 55 percent, besides increasing direct taxes from 32 percent to 45 percent in order to shift the tax burden from the poor to the rich. He also proposed for reduction in sales tax from the present 16 percent to 12 percent.