Dr Firdous barred from entering Punjab Assembly

LAHORE: At the time when the newly elected MPA of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Ahsan Salim Baryar was taking oath in the Punjab Assembly, the National Assembly ticket-holder from his constituency, and former special assistant to prime minister and then the chief minister Punjab, Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan, was barred from entering the PA premises.

The incident took place on Monday when Ahsan Baryar, elected from PP-38 Sialkot, was set to take the oath. Dr Firdous reached the Punjab Assembly to witness the session from the visitors gallery. However, the security staff stopped her from entering the premises.

Lists were shown to her in which her name was not included. She told the media that her name was included in the list, but was omitted later on. However, she ruled out any conspiracy behind the incident and said she would discuss the matter with the persons concerned. She said it was the speaker’s prerogative to allow or disallow anyone to attend the session. She said it was not appropriate to think that she was targeted by anyone.

Meanwhile, Ahsan Baryar took oath as the new MPA and Speaker Punjab Assembly Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi administered oath to him. Dr Firdous had joined the PPP in the year 2007 after quitting PMLQ. When PMLQ was in power, Dr Firdous served as its MNA and after joining the PPP, she defeated PMLQ candidate Ch Ameer Hussain in Sialkot with a big margin. She remained in the PPP till 2015 after which she came closer to the PTI and finally joined the party in 2017. Baryars are a noted group of PMLQ, which is also part of her constituency.

Ansar Iqbal Baryar, the uncle of the newly elected MPA Ahsan Baryar, was an MPA of the PMLQ in 2002. Salim Baryar, the father of MPA Ahsan Salim, is still with the PMLQ and the local tussle is also dubbed as a reason behind the Monday incident.

Besides, Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan also went to Governor’s House to meet the Prime Minister, but could not hold a formal meeting with him. Sources said she had a dialogue with the PM when he was leaving for Islamabad.