There was pandemonium in the National Assembly on Monday as the Opposition led by PTI-SIC lawmakers disrupted the proceedings again and again to protest police raid on PkMAP chief Mahmood Khan Achakzai’s house and poll rigging, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.
As the situation in the National Assembly turned chaotic amid sloganeering, Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq urged the lawmakers to remain calm. “If the situation worsens, if God forbid, someone gets hurt, it would not be appropriate,” he said.
On one occasion during the Monday’s session, Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq warned SIC MNA Jamshed Dasti of action.
The Opposition MNAs tried on several occasions to disrupt the speech of PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.
When the floor was given to SIC’s Asad Qaiser, he demanded the constitution of a judicial commission on the alleged rigging in the February 8 general elections and the cipher controversy.
Asad Qaiser said: “We want to create a very huge party and want to invite all those parties who have concerns on these elections, whether they are Balochistan’s political parties or Sindh’s or Punjab or Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s. We will gather everyone together for the Constitution’s supremacy and for an independent judiciary.”
Qaiser then demanded that a judicial commission comprising apex court judges be formed on the alleged rigging in elections.
The PTI leader denounced the raid on the residence of their presidential candidate Mahmood Khan Achakzai, saying a message was given that if someone makes a speech in the NA, then this will happen. “I want to make this clear; that time of fear has passed. We have come out of all situations,” he said.
Qaiser said that his party founder Imran Khan has decided to “remain in the country and face the circumstances”.
Later, he also demanded that the Supreme Court constitutes a judicial commission on the issue of the cipher that is at the heart of the PTI’s allegation of foreign involvement in their government’s ouster. “Our party’s stance on it is very clear; that the Supreme Court constitutes a judicial commission.”
Qaiser recollected that the PML-N used to hold press conferences claiming there was “no such cipher and there was no reality behind it” but at the same time, the same cipher was “made a basis for convictions against Imran Khan”.
On his turn, PTI-SIC’s Omar Ayub said that his speech as the leader of the opposition yesterday was not live-streamed and was censored. He claimed his entire speech was “based on facts”, adding “We pointed out again and again that there was no live feed.”
Referring to PM Shehbaz Sharif’s speech after being elected as the prime minister, Omar Ayub said, “His speech was shown live and mine was interrupted again and again.”
Gohar assails dynastic politics
Accusing Bilawal Bhutto of burying the politics of his grandfather Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, PTI-SIC leader Barrister Gohar Ali Khan asked the PPP chairman to bear in mind that by adding the title ‘Bhutto’ to his name, he could not become ‘scion’ of the Bhutto family.
Speaking in the National Assembly (NA), Gohar expressed surprise that the PPP had no other candidate for the seat of president except Asif Ali Zardari.
Gohar said that unlike other political parties in the country, there was no concept of dynastic politics in the PTI. “There is no relative of ex-PTI chairman Imran Khan in the parliament.”
He said that the parties like PML-N, PPP and MQM-P got together only for their personal interests. “These people have nothing to do with democracy,” he said, and added, “There can be no reconciliation between the SIC and these parties if the latter continue to do politics of interests.”
Barrister Gohar said he refused to acknowledge Shehbaz Sharif as the country’s prime minister. He asked the PML-N and its allied parties to better do introspection before lecturing the PTI on ethics of politics. “These people did not utter a word to denounce the arrests of our party’s women,” he lamented.
The PTI-SIC leader said it was so unfortunate that the MQM-P preferred its share in the government to its principles. He accused the MQM-P of stealing from the PTI its 15 National Assembly seats from Karachi.
However, Barrister Gohar said that despite all persecution of the PTI leaders and workers before the general elections, there were 100 MNAs of the party in the NA today who had an upper hand over 200 MNAs of the allied parties.
Mengal demands release of all political workers
Balochistan National Party (BNP-Mengal) chief Akhtar Mengal said a system of cultured politics has been finished in the country while only journalism was moving on now.
Expressing his views during National Assembly session, Akhtar Mengal demanded that newly-elected Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif should order the release of all political workers in the country.
He said provincial entities were losing hopes against federation due to its cold response on their demands.
He lamented that history of 1973 was being repeated in Balochistan. He said once they were part of PDM but now they have thrown them away.