LAHORE: Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmed Khan took strict action against the opposition members who raised slogans and protested during Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz’s speech in the Punjab Assembly and suspended them.
The Speaker issued an order suspending 26 opposition members for 15 sessions under Assembly Rule 210 (III), according to which these members will no longer be able to attend the next 15 sessions.
The suspended members include Malik Fahad Masood, Tanveer Aslam, Ijaz Shafi, Rafat Mahmood, Yasir Mahmood, Kaleemullah Khan, Muhammad Ansar Iqbal, Ali Asif, Zulfiqar Ali, Muhammad Mujtaba Chaudhry, Shahid Javed, Muhammad Ismail, Khyal Ahmed Castro, Shahbaz Ahmed, Tayyab Rashid, Imtiaz Mahmood, Ali Imtiaz, Rashid Tufail, Rai Muhammad Murtaza, Khalid Zubair, Saima Kanwal, Muhammad Naeem, Sajjad Ahmed, Rana Aurangzeb, Shoaib Amir and Osama Ali Gujjar.
It should be noted that these members had raised slogans and made noise in the presence of Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz during her speech in the provincial assembly, which affected the proceedings of the assembly. Opposition members tore agenda papers and threw them on the government benches. Unparliamentary language was also used during this.
Reacting to the suspension decision, opposition member Ijaz Shafi said that protest is our constitutional right, it cannot be suppressed. Member of Assembly Imtiaz Ali accused the Speaker of bias and said that he was giving decisions only after listening to the government’s position. Suspended Member of Assembly Shoaib Amir sarcastically said that when the Chief Minister does not come to the assembly year after year, there will be protests.
Meanwhile, Speaker Punjab Assembly Malik Muhammad Ahmed Khan has said that the members ignored the powers, there is a limit to protest. He said that the sanctity and order of the House will be maintained at all costs.
He said that the right to protest is recognized but its limits are subject to the constitution, law and rules. The Speaker of the Provincial Assembly, citing international parliamentary traditions, termed the ruckus as unparliamentary.
