Govt twice defeated in NA
By Mohammed Imran and Irfan Ghauri
ISLAMABAD: The opposition twice defeated the government in the National Assembly on Monday, first rejecting a bill with a majority vote and then foiling the treasury’s attempt to block a debate on the “massive rigging” in local elections.
The government faced a stunning humiliation when several treasury members joined forces with the opposition to expose “the farce of free, fair and transparent local elections”. Dr Sher Afgan Niazi, minister for parliamentary affairs, moved the bill, unaware that the treasury was short of a majority. The opposition parties voted down the bill.
The minister then tried to stop the opposition from debating the local elections by pointing to a lack of quorum in the house. Though most treasury members had walked out, a number of dissidents including Riaz Pirzada, Makhdoom Ahmed Alam, Sanaullah Mastikeil, Sher Akbar and Farooq Azam had stayed behind. The opposition demanded a head-count and the speaker found that the house was in order and the quorum was complete with 87 members, including the treasury members, present in the chamber. This was the first time in the parliamentary history of Pakistan that the government itself pointed out the quorum in a session it called and was defeated.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default...0-8-2005_pg1_6
By Mohammed Imran and Irfan Ghauri
ISLAMABAD: The opposition twice defeated the government in the National Assembly on Monday, first rejecting a bill with a majority vote and then foiling the treasury’s attempt to block a debate on the “massive rigging” in local elections.
The government faced a stunning humiliation when several treasury members joined forces with the opposition to expose “the farce of free, fair and transparent local elections”. Dr Sher Afgan Niazi, minister for parliamentary affairs, moved the bill, unaware that the treasury was short of a majority. The opposition parties voted down the bill.
The minister then tried to stop the opposition from debating the local elections by pointing to a lack of quorum in the house. Though most treasury members had walked out, a number of dissidents including Riaz Pirzada, Makhdoom Ahmed Alam, Sanaullah Mastikeil, Sher Akbar and Farooq Azam had stayed behind. The opposition demanded a head-count and the speaker found that the house was in order and the quorum was complete with 87 members, including the treasury members, present in the chamber. This was the first time in the parliamentary history of Pakistan that the government itself pointed out the quorum in a session it called and was defeated.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default...0-8-2005_pg1_6
Now if this is accepted in a National Assembly, then it does reinforce the media reports that the LB elections were rigged.
The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ,
Moves on: nor all your Piety nor Wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,
Nor all your Tears wash out a Word of it
-- Omar Khayyam
Thus, all the Piety nor wit or tears can wash away the fact that there was huge rigging in the LB election make it a farce in the annals of democracy.
That much for democracy in Pakistan!