Deputy speaker accused of playing controversial role in House
ISLAMABAD: The opposition parties continuing their protest on Tuesday boycotted the proceedings of the National Assembly, accusing Deputy Speaker Murtaza Javed Abbasi of playing a controversial role in the House.
The meeting of Leader of the Opposition Syed Khursheed Shah with Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq after the session also yielded no result. The speaker requested Khursheed Shah to end the boycott but he said that they were stuck to their previous decision, jointly taken by the opposition parties and added “I will take the decision after consulting with other opposition parties.” He said the government had itself messed up the situation and now it should also find out a solution to the issue.
Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Sheikh Aftab was also present in the meeting.The proceedings of the National Assembly on Tuesday reflected further deterioration of relations between the government and opposition as Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif turned up in the House but the opposition members were not present to welcome him.
The opposition members stayed away from the House during the presence of the prime minister as the deputy speaker was chairing proceedings at that time.The opposition members belonging to the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) returned to the House as soon as the deputy speaker left his seat following the departure of the prime minister.
The opposition members have been protesting since Monday against what they said a controversial role played by the deputy speaker during counting on an amendment to motion of thanks to the address of the president to parliament.
Speaking on a point of order, Syed Khursheed Shah said it was already planned by the government to keep the opposition away from the House so that the opposition members could not speak during the presence of the prime minister in the session. “That was why the deputy speaker continued to chair the proceedings till the prime minister was in the House,” he said.
He alleged the premier was also aware of the fact that the opposition parties would not attend the proceedings till the deputy speaker was chairing the proceedings. He said the government itself made the president of Pakistan and motion of thanks to his address to joint sitting of parliament controversial. “Such thinking will not help strengthen democracy and the democratic institutions in the country,” he said.
He made it clear that the opposition parties would continue their walkout from the House whenever Deputy Speaker Murtaza Javed Abbasi chaired the proceedings. He alleged that the government had made the matter controversial, adding the deputy speaker had bailed out the treasury benches by casting his vote on the amendment.
Earlier, soon after the start of proceedings, Nawab Yousuf Talpur of PPP on a point of order said the opposition parties had decided that they would not attend the House when the deputy speaker was in the chair. “We will not attend the proceedings till the deputy speaker apologises for his Monday’s attitude,” he said. He said it happened for the first time in the parliamentary history of Pakistan that majority was converted into a minority in the National Assembly, saying the deputy speaker’s personality had become controversial. “You as the custodian of the House should be impartial but now you have become controversial,” the PPP parliamentarian said.
On that, the deputy speaker said he had offered recounting but the opposition members walked out of the House.Murtaza Javed Abbasi said he conducted the proceedings of the House according to rules.
Federal Minister Zahid Hamid said the deputy speaker used his vote as per the Constitution and there was also nothing wrong with the counting process. In the meantime, PTI parliamentarian Rai Hasan Nawaz pointed out a lack of quorum in the House and the proceedings remained suspended for 25 minutes.