'The Hike Is Set To Unleash Unbearable Spiral Of Inflation'.

Most parliamentary reporters seriously expected Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to attend the National Assembly sitting Thursday and deliver some assuaging speech after the announcement of another price hike in petroleum products late Wednesday night.

But not more than 35 members were present in the House, when I decided to start writing this column after 5:00pm. Finance Minister Miftah Ismail and Ms Ayesha Ghaus Pasha, the state minister of the same portfolio, had also left meanwhile. One is yet not sure whether they went home or needed to attend some business in their chambers. The deserted look of the house also made me imagine a no-show by the prime minister.

It wasn't merely the announcement of another price hike that motivated most parliamentary reporters to anticipate the appearance of Shehbaz Sharif during Thursday's sitting of the National Assembly. He might have felt the need to attend the same; also to offset the impact Syed Khursheed Shah had created by delivering an embarrassing speech in the House Wednesday.

The member from Sukkur, Syed Khursheed Shah, is a highly experienced parliamentarian.

Being a hardcore loyalist of Pakistan Peoples' Party (PPP), he has consistently been returning to the national assembly since 1990. He is a consummate politician instinctively able to fathom the message politicians convey with their conduct.

Wednesday, he took the floor to candidly admit that by not devotedly attending the National Assembly proceedings, Shehbaz Sharif and the rest of his high-profile ministers were seriously damaging the prestige and relevance of the directly elected house of parliament. The budget session is always considered the most dynamic event, where the government needs to stay vigilant, almost around the clock.

Yet the ministers, lamented Syed Khursheed Shah, don't feel interested. Perhaps they feel easy and relaxed due to the fact that 123 members of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) have not been attending the assembly sittings after posting 'collective resignations' since early April.

When the 'cat' is away, the rest of the members also lose interest. And almost each sitting of the national assembly, since the start of the budget session, had mostly been held with obvious lack of quorum.

After honestly pointing out blatant dereliction of duty by the government of these days, Syed Khursheed Shah, who himself is an important federal minister, vowed to start pointing out the lack of quorum himself, if the government...