ISLAMABAD: Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaiser on Wednesday barred seven lawmakers, three from treasury and four from opposition benches, from entering the house for creating a ruckus.
The NA speaker said that the lawmakers have been barred from entering the House as their behaviour was “unparliamentary” and “inappropriate”. He also shared a picture of the order on his official Twitter handle which read, “… the conduct of the following Members of the National Assembly was grossly disorderly as they violated the rules and despite repeated direction of the Chair, they interrupted proceedings of the House”.
The barred lawmakers are Ali Gohar Khan (PML-N), Chaudhary Hamid Hameed (PML-N), Sheikh Rohale Asghar (PML-N), Faheem Khan (PTI), Abdul Majeed Khan (PTI), Ali Nawaz Awan (PTI) and Syed Agha Rafiullah (PPP).
The decision by Qaiser comes a day after lawmakers from both the government and the opposition used foul language and threw copies of this year’s federal budget at one another during the speech by Leader of the Opposition Shehbaz Sharif.
Earlier in the day, the speaker met Prime Minister Imran Khan during which the country’s political situation and the ruckus during Tuesday’s session came under discussion. He added that the premier was informed about the incident, adding that those who had violated the sanctity of the House would be punished.
Apart from the violence that took place in the National Assembly on Tuesday, concerns were expressed over the use of foul language.
Before the meeting between the prime minister and the speaker, an inquiry meeting was also held in the Parliament House under the chairmanship of Qaiser, in which the deputy speaker and the secretary of the National Assembly were present.
A committee headed by Qaiser completed the inquiry in which it was decided that members who used vulgar language on Tuesday would not be allowed to attend the session. The NA speaker further said that action would be taken against those violating the sanctity of the House without any discrimination.
Meanwhile, the opposition parties decided on Wednesday to move a no-confidence motion jointly against National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser after two days of ruckus in the lower house of the parliament.
The development came during a meeting of opposition parties’ leaders, Shehbaz Sharif and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari where they decided to form a committee that would draft a plan of action to move the no-confidence motion.
They said that Tuesday’s proceedings in the NA marked the “darkest day for democracy in Pakistan’s history,” according to the sources.
“The speaker has failed to fulfil his constitutional, legal, democratic, and parliamentary responsibilities […] he is the protector of every parliament member, but [he has failed in his duties] and is not qualified to hold office anymore,” the sources quoted the opposition leaders as saying this. In this regard, the joint opposition leaders also agreed to form a committee that would be tasked with tabling the motion. However, the names of its members are under deliberation.
They demanded that a parliamentary committee be established with equal representation – from treasury and Opposition benches – to probe the ruckus that had transpired in parliament. The joint opposition also rejected the NA speaker’s decision to ban seven members of the Lower House who used foul language in Tuesday’s session.
A day earlier, the lawmakers stooped too low as they used foul language and threw budget books at the opponents; creating scenes of a rumpus in the Lower House that made it like a fish market. It was the second consecutive day when the treasury benches tried to muzzle the voice of opposition leader Shehbaz Sharif, who was to deliver his speech on the federal budget. The rumpus left at least one lawmaker and several sergeants at arms injured. – TLTP