I have been covering Punjab Assembly proceedings and the political activities for a decade or so but last Saturday could be safely declared the blackest day in the history of Punjab Assembly or the seventy years of the country’s political history when the legislators who are part of this house embarrassed the democratic process, democracy, and the House itself.
If one person could be single-handedly credited for what happened on Saturday at Punjab Assembly on the election day for the new Chief Minister Punjab it is none other than the veteran politician and Speaker Punjab Assembly Chaudhry Parvez Elahi. Yes, you heard it right the custodian of the House who is known for dignified politics and has always stood up for the respect, sanctity, and prestige of the House and advocated that the House is supreme has embarrassed the House himself.
Elahi, who was contesting for the Leader of the House position against Hamza Shehbaz, the way he encouraged the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) legislators to chant slogans against the Deputy Speaker Dost Muhammad Mazari throwing lotas at him and then gave thumbs up to the legislators who stopped the proceedings and snatched deputy speakers hairs was completely in bad taste and has damaged the reputation of veteran politician who was previously respected by everyone across party lines.
By the time of writing these lines late on Monday, Hamza Shehbaz is still not a constitutional chief minister of Punjab after PTI Governor Omer Sarfraz Cheema has refused to administer the oath for one reason or another as PTI and PMLQ continue to delay the constitutional and democratic process.
So unlucky is Hamza Shehbaz, who was voted to the CM office Saturday after tumultuous events. I am an eyewitness to the proceedings. When I arrived at the Assembly on Saturday 10am, the day of the election of the chief minister of Punjab, I found the house heavily fenced and the surroundings barbed.
Given the prevailing tensions, this was not unexpected. There was a den on the premises even though the entire area of 500 yards around the Punjab Assembly was closed where section 144 was in force. Apart from police and Rangers, security personnel were also deployed inside and outside the Punjab Assembly.
By 10:15am, chief ministerial candidate Pervez Elahi also arrived with his usual staff and a few PML-Q MPAs. He looked tired and lacked his usual composure when I approached him and asked about the number of MPAs he would have on his side. Soon, government members of the Assembly started coming in. They came in groups. Shortly afterward, members of the opposition, including those who had ditched PTI, reached the Punjab Assembly in five large buses. A few PTI members heckled them ‘lota, lota’ when they saw the members who had joined the Tareen and Aleem Khan groups.
The group of PTI ditchers was being well guarded by their PML-N fellows. I tried to approach Asad Khohkar for his comment on his floor-crossing, but the PML-N members were too many to keep me from him.
“Khokhar sahib, any remorse on ditching the party, which gave you a ticket, made you an MPA and later on a minister?” yelled a fellow reporter. Khokhar hurried into the assembly hall.
Hamza Shehbaz and Aleem Khan came together only to water down the reports of a rift between them. MPAs from both sides went to the lobby designated for them. But all eyes were on the ‘man of the hour’, Deputy Speaker Dost Muhammad Mazari. As he came in, all reporters went to him.
Seeing the reporters’ excitement, Mr Mazari talked to the media representatives. His brief talk had no hard news.
Two security personnel of the deputy speaker were too short to stop the group of attackers. Soon, other staff of the Assembly also came to rescue the custodian of the house and remove the Deputy Speaker from the House.
Once he landed in his chamber, Mazari called the IGP and the chief secretary and ordered them to deploy Special Forces in the House under the Arms Act. His orders were followed. As members of the Special Forces entered the House and arrested three members of the PTI who had assaulted the deputy speaker, several PTI members assaulted Special Forces personnel.
Parvez Elahi also summoned the Punjab Assembly security personnel inside the house who started torturing PML-N members under his directions. Meanwhile, Pervez Elahi was safely moved out of the house by his staff and trusted MPAs, but later he made up an entire episode as if he is badly tortured and his arm was broken, but I haven’t seen anyone breaking his arm while witnessing the proceedings of the house, and he doesn’t have any footage or other evidence as well to prove his claim.
In the ensuing proceedings, PTI and PML-Q members left the house; now this was a walkover for Hamza Shehbaz. Voting ended in about 45 minutes, soon Deputy Speaker announced that Hamza Shehbaz got 197 votes and Parvez Elahi got no votes.
The hall erupted in the thunder of applause.
The round of applause and violence is over, but Hamza has yet to take the oath. But unfortunately, it has badly exposed the Speaker Punjab Assembly Parvez Elahi who played havoc with his political career and damaged his reputation which is likely to haunt him in the years to come.
