Senate session adjourned amid opposition protest

ISLAMABAD: The Senate session was abruptly adjourned Friday before the completion of question hour, as the opposition legislators wanted to speak on the sentence awarded to PTI former chairman Imran Khan.

Leader of the Opposition Syed Shibli Faraz repeatedly requested the chair to let him speak, being his prerogative as opposition leader and cited parliamentary traditions as well.

Shibli Faraz sought the floor during the question hour to speak about the conviction of his party founder as well as his spouse Bushra Bibi. However, Senate Deputy Chairman Syedaal Khan straight away refused to give him the floor and said that under Rule 41 question hour had to be completed first. “I will allow you to speak on points of public importance but let first the question hour be exhausted,” the chair contended and this led to a noisy protest in the House. But Shibli insisted that this was prerogative while referring to a parliamentary tradition under which no one can speak when the leader of the house or the leader of the opposition has the floor.

Senate deputy chairman abruptly adjourned the House to meet again on Monday afternoon, while the noisy protest continued. As he adjourned the proceedings, PTI lawmakers gathered close to his podium and chanted slogans against what they called black laws and verdicts, a travesty of justice and the opposition’s witch-hunt. They threw up torn copies of the order of the day in the air.

Earlier, the House was informed through a written reply that three law enforcers were martyred, and 106 others sustained injuries during ‘violent protests’ by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in Islamabad from November 24 to 26. In response to Senator Quratulain Marri’s question, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said that, as per reports from all police stations in the federal capital, no civilian casualties or injuries were recorded during the protests.

The Senate was also told that data protection and privacy measures were in place to prevent misuse of information within the National Sex Offenders Register, launched in November last year. Replying to a question asked by Senator Marri on behalf of the Interior Minister, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said it was end-to-end encrypted and under the rules its public disclosure was not allowed. About details of authorised institutions and personnel having access to sensitive information along with the penalties for unauthorised access or misuse of the register, he said those found to be involved in leakage of protected data in deviation from their official duties and responsibilities would face action under PPC and service rules.