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‘Guest’ CM, novice MPs come into play

Amir Nafees

Perhaps it was the first time in the Punjab Assembly history that its member was elected unopposed for the coveted office of chief minister. the incumbent CM is expected to run the affairs for 90 days

During the proceedings, the opposition could have adopted an aggressive policy but it acted otherwise owing to unknown reasons.

Chaudhry Zaheer-ud-Din, a seasoned politician, who has been named as the leader of the opposition, although, has the potential to deal with the treasury but the opposition failed to register any protest.

The house is longing to see a vociferous opposition leader like Rana Sanaullah who used to put the treasury benches in deep waters; Former Law Minister Raja Basharst was the one who could tackle the plethora of questions put forward by the erstwhile opposition leader. It was a treat to watch the dauntless opposition leader putting the opposition into a quandary. The credit goes to Rana Sanaullah for raising the spirits of opposition members.

The opposition has a key role to play in a democratic setup as it closely monitors the policies of incumbent rulers. Chaudhry Zaheer-ud-Din might refresh our memories of intelligent debates, arguments and criticisms by following the footstep of his predecessor.

Interestingly, around 240 members are novice politicians and they have no parliamentary experience. The said figure also includes women who are elected on reserved seats. Albeit many seasoned politicians were elected as MPAs in the previous elections but still it was an uphill task for the speaker to control perennial hullabaloos.

They also used to shout knowing that the speaker would not entertain their request; they resorted to such tactics to gain attention of the house. The novice members will take time to get acquainted with the modus operandi of the house, as they wasted no opportunity to speak about the commendable deeds of their forefathers in the house. For instance, newly elected Speaker Rana Muhammad Iqbal praised the services rendered by Makhdoom Ahmad Mahmood's father. Makhdoom also uttered praiseworthy remarks for the speaker. It was disheartening to see a senior parliamentarian Nazim Hussain Shah praising the father of Speaker and trying hard to seek the attention of the house.

Reverting back to the novice members, it is pertinent to add that they have reportedly asked the speaker to arrange a comprehensive training program for them. They are also keen to learn parliamentary ethics. Lo and behold! The novice parliamentarians are also clueless about the terminologies used by the legislators. It is also clear that they are unaware about the problems faced by the masses as they whiled away time by praising each other.

Albeit the newly elected Punjab chief minister is a "guest" but he should do something for the training of the novice parliamentarians. The chief minister-in-waiting will be obliged as they will raise genuine issues instead of praising each other.