Shabaz Sharif false’ assurance of presence in the House

Opposition Leader in Punjab Assembly (PA) Raja Riaz Ahmad moved a privilege motion against Provincial Law Minister Rana Sanaullah for his ‘false’ assurance of chief minister’s (CM) presence in the House on Monday.

During the PA session last Wednesday, Sanaullah had assured the legislators of CM’s presence in House, saying he (CM) would personally attend the assembly proceedings on coming Monday to take the House into confidence over the drug issue and Punjab Institute of Cardiology’s (PIC) role in it. He had maintained that Shahbaz Sharif, who held portfolio of the health ministry along with 14 other ministries, would himself conclude the general debate on the PIC issue and brief the House about the causes of the deaths.

However, the CM did not attend the session, for reasons unknown. Eventually, the session was prorogued for indefinite period without concluding the debate on deaths from contaminated medicines. The joint opposition of PPP and PML-Q, during the last session, also staged a walkout from the House protesting CM’s absence from assembly since the last budget session in June 2011. Thereafter, Raja Riaz submitted a privilege motion in the PA Secretariat Notice Branch against Rana Sanaullah, accusing him of “misleading” the House.