LAHORE: Punjab Assembly Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmed Khan on Thursday again pledged to begin the house proceedings on time as the sitting started after almost a four-hour delay.

Regretting the delay in the start of the proceedings, the speaker said that the official time was llam, but even at 12 noon only a couple of lawmakers were present in the house, when he checked the roll call.

He urged the MPAs to reachthe house on time, otherwise, he warned, he would adjourn the proceedings for the next day.

Treasury member Saeed Akbar Nawani suggested that the speaker should take his seat at the official time and start the proceedings. By doing so for a couple of sittings, he said, the speaker could send a message to the members that the session would begin on time, and they would become punctual to carry out their respective legislative business.

At this, the speaker announced that the session on Friday (today)would begin exactly at 2pm.

On the request of Parliamentary Affairs Minister Mujtaba Shuja, it was decided to hold the Friday`s session in the new assembly building, instead of the recently introduced practice of holding it in the old chamber.

As the session began, the opposition PTI members continued their protest for the release of party founder Imran Khan. Holding placards, they entered the house in a rally, chanting slogans in favour of their leader.

The speaker said that theopposition members may continue the protest, but urged them to lower down their placards as agreed upon earlier.

The house also offered Fateha for the martyrs of Jaffar Express.

Earlier, a treasury member, Amjad Ali Javed, demanded closure of the Punjab Provincial Cooperative Bank (PPCB), declaring it a white elephant eatingupprovincialresources.

He said just as the population welfare department was merged with the health department, the PPCB should also be merged with any other department.