Speaker floats Charter of Parliament idea as 5 NA security officials suspended

National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq on Wednesday floated the idea of framing a Charter of Parliament aimed at resolving the issues faced by the lawmakers, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

The speaker also suspended five National Assembly security officials for four months for showing negligence over arrest of PTI MNAs from the Parliament House.

During NA proceedings on Wednesday, Speaker Ayaz Sadiq maintained that it was essential for both the government and the Opposition to sit together.

The speaker later set up an inquiry committee to probe the PTI MNAs arrests, saying “I will try to reach the bottom of the incident, asking lawmakers from both sides to draw the rules for the inquiry committee.”

Federal Information Minister Attaullah Tarar tabled a motion in the House regarding setting up a special committee regarding Parliament’s issues. The House unanimously adopted the motion.

Earlier, Speaker Ayaz Sadiq chaired an in-camera meeting in his chamber which was attended by Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi and PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.

Speaking on the floor of the assembly, PTI’s Atif Khan said that nobody paid any heed to the production orders issued by the NA speaker for the arrested MNAs. “The lawmakers are still in jail. Here the government has not yet condemned the ‘attack’ on the parliament.”

NA security officials suspended

Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq suspended five security officials for four months, days after PTI lawmakers were arrested from the Parliament House.

According to an “office order” issued by the NA secretariat on Wednesday, Sergeant-at-Arms (BPS-20) Muhammad Ishfaq Ashraf was suspended “with immediate effect for a period of 120 days”. “During the period of his suspension, he will be entitled to draw pay and allowances as admissible under the applicable rules,” the order read.

The order said the action was taken under rule 5(1) (suspension and leave) of the Civil Servants (Efficiency and Discipline) Rules, 2020.

Under the said rule, the appointing authority “may place any civil servant under suspension or send him on leave, against whom proceedings are proposed to be initiated for an initial period” of 120 days at one time.

In a separate notice, the suspension orders for Security Assistant Waqas Ahmed (grade-14 official) as well as three junior security assistants (grade-9 officials) — namely Obaidullah, Muhammad Waheed Safdar and Muhammad Haroon — were also issued.

On Tuesday, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq had ordered the immediate release of all lawmakers arrested from the premises of the parliament on Monday night, saying all MNAs are his colleagues and “insulting any of them is intolerable.”

The speaker issued the production orders during a meeting with Islamabad IGP Syed Ali Nasir Rizvi at his chamber in the National Assembly on Tuesday.

The IGP assured the NA speaker of action. “Sir, I will look into it personally and will report back to you,” he added.

Reporters Rozina Ali and Usman Khan