Uproar in NA as govt tables bill on Senate open ballot

ISLAMABAD: The government on Wednesday presented to the National Assembly a bill to bring the 26th Amendment to the Constitution, which paves the way for open balloting in the forthcoming Senate elections, amid intense protests from the opposition.

According to Geo News, the lawmakers belonging to the opposition benches protested loudly, thumped their desks and chanted slogans in what was characterised by the treasury benches as a bid to hamper Minister for Law Farogh Naseem from reading out the contents of the bill.

Speaker Asad Qaiser eventually called for a recess when assembly proceedings became difficult to continue, after which the session was conducted by Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri.

Amid the ruckus, PML-N Secretary-General Ahsan Iqbal accused the Speaker of being biased and not letting the opposition speak. He said a Speaker is not supposed to favour any party. “It seems the opposition has been labelled pariahs in Parliament,” Iqbal remarked.

Iqbal also accused the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) of “revenge” against the Opposition, saying prominent members are all in jail. “Democracy does not work like you are angels and the opposition is the devil,” he said.

Qaiser bristled at the accusation and challenged him to come to the dais and see how many motions he had admitted.

PPP’s Raja Pervez Ashraf remarked that the government “does not have the numbers for a constitutional amendment, and look at their behaviour”.

When Murad Saeed took the floor, the opposition’s loud protests gained further momentum, as they kept chanting “liar, liar”. “The opposition is not allowing me to speak because they know what I have to say,” Saeed said. The minister said the opposition claimed the government would be forced to leave after January 31. “Well we are sitting here today,” he remarked. Saeed said the opposition had also claimed they would “throw their resignations in our faces”. “Have some shame, some honour,” he said.

Echoing the Prime Minister’s remarks from a day earlier, he said that the Opposition “does not have the guts” to resign from the assemblies.”