Speaker bars entry of seven unruly MNAs in National Assembly

National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser on Wednesday banned the entry of seven members of the National Assembly into the precincts of Parliament House who displayed grossly disruptive conduct during the speech of Leader of the Opposition Shehbaz Sharif on budget yesterday, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

According to the notification issued by NA Speaker Qaiser on Wednesday, entry of these MNAs has been banned: Ali Gohar Khan (PML-N), Ch 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 speaker ordered the removal of the aforesaid members from the limits of the National Assembly. The members were required not to enter the Parliament House till further orders. 

The speaker took the decision of holding a meeting with Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Acting upon the speaker’s order, the security officials deputed at the assembly, went to the aforementioned MNAs and asked them to leave the Parliament House.  

Earlier, the sources revealed to News24 TV channel that Speaker National Assembly Qaiser has decided to take stern action against the unruly members of the assembly belonging to both treasury and opposition parties, who indulged in boisterous bahaviour during budget speech of the opposition leader yesterday.  

According to the sources, NA Speaker Qaiser would deal sternly with the parliamentarians who got involved in ruckus and swearing during Shehbaz Sharif’s speech on budget. 

The sources said that the speaker had decided to suspend the membership of the rowdy parliamentarians belonging to treasury and opposition benches alike. The suspended members would also be handed the show-cause notices. 

The sources said it had been decided to suspend the membership of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf MNA Ali Nawaz Awan. 

Speaker calls on PM 

NA Speaker Asad Qaiser also called on Prime Minister Imran Khan and divulged the details of the unfortunate incident that occurred in the National Assembly yesterday. He told the premier that the commotion started from both sides; from opposition and treasury benches.

He promised to take an across-the-board action against the lawmakers involved in the pandemonium and violated the sanctity of the house.

The speaker said that the action would be taken after watching the video footage of the incident. 

He also watched the video footage in the presence of deputy speaker and secretary National Assembly.

Prime Minister Khan expressed his displeasure over the unfortunate incident.  

NA speaker dials Shehbaz, Bilawal

Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaiser made a telephonic contact with Opposition Leader in NA Shehbaz Sharif and PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari to discuss measures to keep an amiable atmosphere in the house during budget session.

The NA speaker on Wednesday called PML-N President Shehbaz and PPP Chairman Bilawal and condemned the yesterday’s incident. He said it was joint responsibility of both opposition and treasury members to keep a cordial atmosphere in the assembly.

He called upon all parliamentary leaders to play their part in maintaining an affable ambience during the budget session. 

Shehbaz and Bilawal agreed to the speaker and assured him of their cooperation in maintaining peaceful environment in the house.

Khaqan Abbasi demands speaker’s resignation

On the other hand, during a presser on Wednesday, PML-N senior leader and former prime minister Khaqan Abbasi and Ahsan Iqbal condemned the PTI MNAs for displaying rowdy behavior during the assembly proceedings.

 Mr Abbasi asked Speaker Qaiser to tender his resignation over the sad incident. He said before him, Fakhar Imam had also tendered his resignation from the office of NA speaker in 1986.

Mr Iqbal said yesterday’s incident happened at the behest of Prime Minister Imran Khan. He said a single man had made the whole nation hostage. He said rumors were doing the round that speaker was called at PM house to explain his position as why did he stop the ruling party MNAs when they were involved in ruckus.  

Mr Abbasi vowed to bring government’s theft in front of public at every forum. He said the NA speaker after losing opposition’s trust, now had lost the government’s confidence as well.

Reporters Usman Khan and Awais Kiyani