ISLAMABAD: The opposition on Wednesday warned of bringing a no-confidence motion against National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq, if he did not change his attitude towards the opposition benches.
The warning came from senior opposition leader and PKMAP chief Mahmood Khan Achakzai during a chat with the media outside the Parliament House along with other opposition leaders. He accused the NA speaker of playing the role of ‘havaldar’. “I say to the NA speaker you are custodian of the House and don’t try to become a PMLN worker. To switch off the mic of opposition leaders is undemocratic. If the speaker does not correct his attitude towards the opposition, a no-confidence motion will be moved against him,” he asserted.
Achakzai said: “Together we have brought this country to democracy with difficulty. Parliament is the supreme institution. It is the speaker’s responsibility to honour it. The opposition leader’s house is being raided. Police are coming to arrest him. The speaker is saying write to me. This assembly belongs to all of us as members and we all have the right to speak here. The opposition is also a part of this assembly. This assembly is not being run according to the Constitution of Pakistan.”
Speaking on the occasion, Opposition Leader Omar Ayub said a dissenting note had been written by four opposition MPs in a meeting of the Standing Committee for Finance on the appointment of board of directors in institutions. The government, he alleged, wanted to sabotage this process by hastily enacting legislation and the procedure of appointment and change of board of directors in national institutions was not correct. The dissenting note should be made a part of the minutes of the standing committee’s meeting.
He said a law has been passed in the National Assembly today while the members of National Assembly were given a copy of the draft bill at the same time. “We have opposed the bill concerning the appointment of boards of directors of national institutions today.”
PTI leader Asad Qaiser said an organized campaign against the judiciary was currently underway and that attempts were being made to suppress the judiciary by blackmailing it. “We condemn this campaign and our alliance will resist it. We will not come under any pressure and our struggle will continue. Time stands with the judiciary. If the nation does not stand with the judiciary, human rights will be lost,” he cautioned. The Constitution, he insisted, was not just the name of a paper, the constitution gave people rights. “Practically there is a martial law in the country at the moment,” he claimed.
PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali said the opposition was being mistreated, whereas there was a decision of the Supreme Court that no one’s house would be raided, and the government said on oath that no one would be forcibly detained. “We will not be cowed down. No FIR is being registered against the government. If the government does not change its attitude, it will not be allowed to continue,” he warned.
To combat environmental pollution, cabinet approved introduction of single-use plastic ban across Punjab
Nisar Ahmed Khan, an officer of Police Service in Grade 20, has been transferred from FIA to KP government
Formal office order has been issued with approval of federal secretary Science and Technology
Punjab Charities Commission has organized an open discussion between NGOs and students of various universities
Significant change is reduction of KE’s US dollar-based ROE from 15% to 14% in line with other IPPs
This growth is anticipated to have a positive impact on the unemployment rate, albeit a slight one