LAHORE: Friday`s proceedings of the Punjab Assembly became a lessthan-90-minute affair when it was pointed out that the number of members present was insufficient to continue, leaving the chair with no option but to call it a day.

Interestingly, the House attendance register showed presence of 139 members 99 from treasury, 29 opposition and 11 parliamentary secretaries. However, inside less than one-third were present when quorum was pointed out. The remaining two-thirds had come just to get their daily allowances and disappeared, quipped one of the members in the corridors.

`This is a norm now and the media should get used to it rather than noung the dichotomy each time and then berating the House, he advised.

He said the House, as well as its members, were a powerless congregation. `They cannot legislate on their own. Their debate and suggestions are meaningless for the leadership. They are not even heard when development work of their constituencies is decided. Then what are they expected to do?` The session, which started 65 minutes later than the announced schedule of 9am, had only eight members to begin with. The strength grew gradually, but never went beyond 50 before it started dwindling, prompting Shunila Ruth of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) to point out quorum.

Most of the questions on higher education in the province were missed as either the mover was missing or the relevant treasury members were not present.

Same was the fate of adjournment motions. Four motions were moved only to get deferred because neither the mover nor those to be moved were present.

The tiny opposition on Friday behaved well for a change when its leader, Mian Mehmoodur Rasheed, repented that Thursday`s federal scuffle should not have happened. The decorum of National Assembly should have been maintained by all sides, he said. The treasury could not agree more.

The lone representative of Jamaat-i-Islami, Dr Waseem Akhtar,wasworried about the crashing prices of potato and the plight of growers. But he was told that only the minister concerned could answer, and he was missing. The doctor, however, kept insisting that the provincial government had no potato policy and the farmers were paying the cost.

The thin presence and the subsequent pointing out of the quorum did not allow the treasury to even take up the official business of debating the performances of four development authorities in the province (Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Multan and Gujranwala) and the Parks and Horticulture Authority of Lahore.

It was at 11:30am when Ms Ruth of the PTI pointed out quorum and embarrassed the treasury as it was the turn of official business.

The chair ordered five minutes of ringing of bells, but only 50 odd members returned to the House forcing the chair to announce reconvening of members on Monday af ternoon.