Legislators up to schoolboy trick

LAHORE, Jan 12: The provincial legislators on Wednesday acted like schoolboys when 21 of them cheated on their attendance, forcing the Speaker to bring the register inside the House.

As soon as the proceedings started at 10:08am, quite surprisingly just eight minutes late than its fixed time, Law Minister Rana Sanaullah pointed out that
only 27 members were present though attendance of 48 members was marked on the register.

Deputy Speaker Rana Mashhud Ahmad, who was presiding over the session, immediately sought the register to be brought inside the House for verifying the claim which he found right. The situation caused uproar in the House which asked the Speaker to place the register inside so that no member could cheat. The chair obliged.

Interestingly, members like Munawwar Hasan Manj, who never attended the House during the last three years, were marked present. Another member Javed Bhatti, who had escaped an attempt on his life a day before and had been hospitalised, was also present in the House according to the attendance register.

Yet another MPA, whose daughter had died two days ago, was marked present.

Quite a few members were embarrassed to the hilt. Stop calling me an honourable member as all my honour is restricted to this hall only, said a visibly disturbed Ghulam Abbas Raan. Outside this House, people know me as a cheater, thanks to my colleagues like this, he remarked.

There were the ones who remained unmoved. Saeed Akbar Niwani found it insulting for the members to place the register inside the House. The members should not cheat but the attendance register has always been there for decades. Technological solutions to prevent cheating are available, which could be used to ensure that no one repeats such dishonesty. But shifting of register is downright insult to the members, he insisted.

The law minister while defending the decision claimed: According to the Assembly Rules the secretary maintains and places the register. ! The plac e has not been identified in the rules and procedures. Thus, shifting does not violate a rule; the secretary can place it anywhere within the Assembly premises.

Sheikh Allauddin, characteristically speaking, pointed out that cheating by members was not only restricted to attendance register but they had been deceitful on medical bills. I personally know some of the colleagues who are submitting medical bills for diseases they have nothing to do with, he said on the floor of the House.

Such people, he said, were a source of disrespect for the House and must be dealt with as sternly as possible, he emphasised.

Speaking to the media outside the assembly, Rana Sana described the shifting of register as a welcome step and claimed even the speaker could not shift it back to outside the House because its a consensus decision. Its a welcome step and should deter such incidents.

Those who had their proxy attendance on the register were Muhammad Naveed Anjum, Haji Allah Rakha, Mian Mohsin Latif, Munawar Hassan Manj, Muhammad Javed Bhatti, Tariq Mahmood Bajwa, Ibrar Husain Shah, Rai Muhammad Aslam, Tahir Ali Javed, Abdur Rehman Rana, Malik Fayyaz, Assadullah, Mian Shahid Hussain, Sardar Khalid Saleem, Rahela Khadam, Laila Muqaddas, Riffat Sultana Dar, Farhana Afzal, Khadija Omer, Amina Ulfat and Ms Qamar Amer.