LAHORE: Punjab Assembly Speaker Sibtain Khan allowed PML-N to sit with provincial Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Raja Basharat after one of its lawmakers requested to restore their 18 MPAs who had been banned from attending 15 assembly sessions.
As the assembly session started on Monday with Speaker Sibtain Khan in chair, PML-N’s Khalil Tahir Sindhu, on a point of order, drew attention of the House towards a specific clause of assembly rules, saying a member could only be banned for fifteen days if he/she repeated the same mistake.
However, in this case, the PML-N lawmakers did not commit the same mistake and they could only be barred from attending one assembly session, he added.
The MPAs were banned for 15 assembly sittings while rules allow banning only for 15 days not for 15 sittings of the assembly proceedings, the PML-N MPA noted.
Responding to his query, Speaker Khan told the PML-N MPA to sit with the parliamentary affairs minister and others to sort out the matter.
It is worth mentioning that the action had been taken against PML-N’s 18 lawmakers following their alleged conduct of hampering assembly’s proceedings on October 22 when former chief minister Sardar Usman Buzdar was presenting resolution against Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP)’s decision to disqualify former prime minister Imran Khan. Despite repeated requests by the speaker, the lawmakers continued passing derogatory remarks and blowing whistles.
The absence of majority of lawmakers from both treasury and opposition benches on Monday also showed their lack interest in attending ‘question answer session’ wherein their queries over different issues are responded by the ministers concerned.
Speaker Khan called the names of several MPAs from both sides of aisle but none of them was present in the House as a result of which their questions were disposed of.
“It seems Dr Sahib has asked someone today to offer special pray, astonishing enough that whose name is called found absent,” said Speaker Sibtain Khan in a lighter note addressing to Dr Muhammad Akhtar Malik, minister for primary and secondary health care, who was to answer the queries of the lawmakers.
Moreover, The Punjab Trusts (Amendment) Bill 2022, The Punjab Empowerment of Persons With Disabilities Bill 2022, The Mutahida Ulema Board Punjab Bill 2022 and others tabled by the provincial government were passed with majority vote. After completing agenda items, the speaker adjourned the House till December 19 at 2pm.
