LAHORE – In a rare occurrence, the Punjab Assembly’s Friday session was adjourned until Monday due to a lack of quorum with no business being conducted. The day’s agenda included the passage of the “Punjab Education, Curriculum, Training and Assessment Authority Bill 2025,” along with a Zero Hour session and a Question Hour focused on Local Government and Community Development. However, none of the scheduled business could be addressed due to the lack of a quorum in the House.
On the consistent demand of the Opposition, Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan started the session on time at 2 pm with only 19 government members present. However, not a single opposition member was in the house. At the start of the session, a treasury member Sardar Khan Bahadur pointed out the lack of quorum, leading the Speaker to adjourn the session for 15 minutes.
Notably, before adjourning the session for 15 minutes, the Speaker urged the Treasury to withdraw the quorum call, emphasizing that it was against parliamentary tradition to point out a lack of quorum during the Question Hour. However, after reviewing the rules, it became clear that withdrawing the request was not permissible. After 15 minutes, when the Speaker resumed the session, opposition members entered the assembly and began chanting slogans against the sentencing of the PTI founder in the £190 million case. The speaker ordered the counting of members, but the quorum was found incomplete again. Consequently, due to the lack of quorum, the Speaker adjourned the session until Monday at 2 PM in the new building.
Meanwhile, the Opposition staged protests both inside and outside the House against the sentencing of PTI founder Imran Khan.
Addressing a press conference after the session, Opposition Leader Ahmed Khan Bhachar criticized the government, stating that it was unprecedented for a treasury member to end a session convened by their own government. He expressed regret over the government’s lack of resolve, noting that it was their own member who pointed out the lack of quorum.
Commenting on the Al-Qadir Trust case, the Opposition leader asserted that the case was baseless and confirmed that the PTI would challenge the lower court’s decision in the High Court. He further claimed that none of the cases filed on political or technical grounds had any merit.
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