Opposition uproar cuts Budget 2012-13 speech short

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Finance Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh on Friday delivered his budget speech before Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani against a backdrop of complete chaos and pandemonium in the National Assembly, as sloganeering, a physical brawl and heated verbal exchanges between members of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the treasury benches characterised the session.

PML-N lawmaker Malik Shakil Awan and PPP member Javed Iqbal Warraich physically thrashed each other in a volley of punching and slapping in the space between Prime Minister Gilani and NA Speaker Dr Fehmida Mirza, as a result of which Javed Warraich’s waistcoat was torn in half.

This was the first incident of its kind in the parliamentary history of Pakistan with two members physically assaulting each other in full view of the prime minister and the Opposition leader.

In an attempt to calm the situation down, Fehmida Mirza asserted: “[This] is an unconstitutional way of protest. You are undermining parliament.”

PML-N members Captain Safdar and Rana Tanveer also briefly joined the brawl in a bid to separate the two wrestling lawmakers. The fight began suddenly when Malik Shakil Awan was raising full-throated slogans against Prime Minister Gilani and the government. The two members were also seen verbally abusing each other. The brawl that consequently resulted was reminiscent of a fight between a passenger and van driver at a bus stand.

When the NA Speaker requested the finance minister to deliver his speech, the PML-N parliamentarians who were already occupying the space in front of the Speaker began raising slogans against the government and brandishing placards. The placards were inscribed with phrases such as “Stop Looting and Corruption,” “Quit Government,”

”Judiciary Strong, Pakistan Strong,” “Respect Judiciary.”

The protest was in fact so effective that government members immediately surrounded the prime minister and finance minister to avoid any untoward incident and to prevent the demonstrating parliamentarians from approaching them.

Some protesting members also threw torn placards at Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh.In an attempt to give a befitting response to the protest from the Opposition, members from the treasury benches gathered around Prime Minister Gilani just as he was leaving the House, raising slogans in his favour. They also waved their fists in the direction of the Opposition members as if advertising their victory.

Speaking to reporters outside Parliament House afterwards, Leader of the Opposition Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan questioned how the finance minister — who a day earlier had admitted the government’s failures while unveiling the Economic Survey — could possibly present the federal budget. He added that rampant corruption had taken the shape of a consortium in the country, and now entire families were involved in corrupt practices.

Ch Nisar added that it was necessary to raise slogans in the National Assembly during the finance minister’s speech, and this was how they could ensure that the voice of ordinary people would be heard: “What the finance minister said in his speech was not [the] voice of the people,” he asserted.