- Sadiq proposes ‘Charter of Parliament’ to ease govt-opposition tension, promote cooperation
- Barrister Gohar announces boycott of NA proceedings except for nine to ten MNAs to attend the session
- Bilawal strikes a reconciliatory tone, calling for politics of revenge to be shunned
- Kh Asif clarifies no one is ‘appreciating’ the events that took place Monday night
ISLAMABAD: A delegation from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), led by Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, successfully obtained production orders for its arrested members of the National Assembly (MNAs) after a meeting with Speaker Ayaz Sadiq on Wednesday.
The PTI delegation, which included Dawar Kundi and Ali Muhammad Khan, met Speaker Ayaz Sadiq in his chamber, pressing for the release of detained MNAs.
“You announced yesterday that production orders would be issued, but they have not yet been released to bring our arrested members to the assembly. You made a verbal promise, and we are here today for the written orders,” Barrister Gohar stated during the meeting.
Later, speaking to the media outside Parliament House, Barrister Gohar confirmed that Speaker Sadiq had issued the production orders, ensuring the presence of the arrested PTI members in the assembly by tomorrow (Thursday).
In a related development, the National Assembly’s Sergeant-at-Arms, Ashfaq Ashraf, along with four other security personnel, was suspended for four months following arrests that took place within the parliament building. The suspended officers include Security Assistant Waqas Ahmed and Junior Security Assistants Ubaidullah, Waheed Safdar, and Muhammad Haroon.
The suspensions followed an internal review of the incident, wherein arrests of PTI lawmakers were made from inside the assembly premises.
Earlier this week, police entered the National Assembly and arrested prominent PTI leaders, including Sahibzada Hamid Raza, leader of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, Sher Afzal Marwat, and Advocate Shoaib Shaheen. The arrests were made in connection with a PTI rally in the capital that defied emergency laws enacted shortly before the event.
Meanwhile in a bid to ease tensions between the government and opposition, Speaker Sadiq proposed a ‘Charter of Parliament’ aimed at promoting cooperation between all political factions, despite ongoing leadership conflicts.
Addressing the parliamentarians during the session, the NA Speaker suggested that, even if party leaders fail to agree, members of parliament should still work towards signing a cross-party charter, emphasizing such an initiative would strengthen parliamentary collaboration and discipline.
The session witnessed interruptions from PTI members, who demanded the immediate issuance of production orders for their arrested colleagues. Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Khursheed Shah intervened, urging the house to allow PTI members to speak.
Referring to past incidents, Speaker Sadiq noted that production orders for detained members were not issued during the PTI government. However, he assured that he would act in the best interest of the assembly, stating, “I will do what is right.” He also announced the formation of a committee to address the issue promptly.
Earlier, National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq on Tuesday suspended five security officials for four months, days after PTI lawmakers were arrested from inside the Parliament House.
According to an “office order” issued by the NA secretariat on Wednesday, Sergeant-at-Arms (BPS-20) Muhammad Ishfaq Ashraf was suspended “with immediate effect for a period of 120 days”.
“During the period of his suspension, he will be entitled to draw pay and allowances as admissible under the applicable rules,” the order read.
While not specifying the reason for the move, it said the action was taken under rule 5(1) (suspension and leave) of the Civil Servants (Efficiency and Discipline) Rules, 2020.
Under the said rule, the appointing authority “may place any civil servant under suspension or send him on leave, against whom proceedings are proposed to be initiated for an initial period” of 120 days at one time.
In a separate note, the suspension orders for Security Assistant Waqas Ahmed (grade-14 official) as well as three junior security assistants (grade-9 officials) — namely Obaidullah, Muhammad Waheed Safdar, and Muhammad Haroon, respectively — were issued.
The four officials were also placed under suspension for 120 days and “entitled to draw pay and allowances as admissible under the applicable rules”.
On Tuesday, declaring that he would lodge a first information report (FIR) himself if need be, the NA speaker had sought footage from all entry gates of the Parliament House for evidence-based action.
Sadiq also held deliberations with parliamentary leaders and members of the lower house, with Ali Muhammad Khan and Shandana Gulzar of the PTI and PML-N’s Rana Sanaullah among those present during the meeting.
During the meeting, he said there would be no compromise on the dignity and prestige of parliament. It was, therefore, decided to formulate some rules of the game to avoid the recurrence of such incidents in the future.
Later, the speaker had also summoned Islamabad’s Inspector General of Police (IGP) Syed Ali Nasir Rizvi to his chamber to get details of the arrests and ordered him to produce the detained MNAs in parliament.
On Monday night — a day after the PTI held its Sangjani power show — law enforcement agencies launched a crackdown on the PTI’s top leadership, arresting at least three key members from different areas of Islamabad, while forcing others to take shelter in the Parliament House.
By 11pm on Monday, there were confirmed reports about the arrest of firebrand leader Sher Afzal Marwat, Waziristan MNA Zubair Khan, and lawyer Shoaib Shaheen, who was taken into custody from his office in G-9.
At least 11 MNAs arrested included Marwat, Zubair, Chief Whip in NA Malik Amir Dogar, Sheikh Waqqas Akram, Bannu lawmaker Nasim Ali Shah, Zain Qureshi, Ahmed Chattha, Awais Haider Jakhar, Syed Shah Ahad Ali Shah, Yousuf Khattak and Abdul Latif Chitrali.
After being freed by the Islamabad police on Tuesday, PTI Chairman Gohar Ali Khan clarified that he had surrendered himself for arrest when Marwat was taken into custody.
Most PTI MNAs to not attend NA sessions till probe held: Gohar
Meanwhile, Gohar announced a boycott of NA proceedings by “all PTI MNAs except nine to ten” as the recent events continued to come under discussion in today’s assembly session.
Speaking on the floor of the National Assembly, Gohar said, “Until an inquiry is conducted into September 10 events and we are satisfied, PTI MNAs, except for nine to 10, will not participate in this parliament’s proceedings. We will not attend your committees’ meetings.
“This is our protest,” the PTI leader asserted.
“It has come to my knowledge that Bilawal sahib has also tried [to address our concerns] and I thank him for that,” he added.
The PTI chairman clarified: “Under no circumstance would the PTI resign from the parliament or any assembly, nor have we announced as such.”
Regarding the arrests of “10 MNAs”, Gohar called on the NA deputy speaker to not conduct an inquiry that led to the suspension of “some innocent ordinary people but to go to the depth of it”.
During his address, Gohar warned the treasury benches that if PTI’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government wanted, it could also file cases against ministers of the ruling coalition.
However, the PTI MNA said he chose not to engage in “tit-for-tat” actions.
Recalling the suspension of PTI’s Punjab MPAs for 15 sessions, Gohar said he faced “pressure” as the party’s chairman but when a KP lawmaker from the ruling parties “misbehaved”, he chose to not have them suspended in return.
“We want the political forces to be strengthened so that unpolitical forces won’t get a chance,” the PTI chairman said.
‘Both sides must work together’: Bilawal
In his address, PPP Chairman Bilawal-Bhutto Zardari also struck a reconciliatory tone as he called for politics of revenge to be shunned.
“If the government’s only job is to decide who should we jail today as ‘Khan did this to us and ruined the air’ so […] you will be happy for one day but tomorrow, you and I will be in that same jail,” Bilawal said.
“When [Imran] Khan was the prime minister, I had no personal difference with him,” the PPP chairman stated.
“The manner in which we have been doing politics for quite some time, we have turned it into a gaali (swear word),” the Bhutto scion lamented.
Bilawal also criticised the opposition for hurling abuses and “hitting below the belt” instead of giving constructive feedback to the federal government on its economic and security policies.
“If this country has to move forward, both sides must work together. […] It also does not matter that your ‘prime minister’ is jailed. You can fight for his case in jail. Here, serve the public,” the PPP chairman said.
Bilawal further said that since the PPP signed the Charter of Democracy in 2007, “conspiracies started to give space to undemocratic forces and to undermine that charter”.
‘Collective damage’: Khawaja Asif
Meanwhile, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif clarified that no one was “appreciating” the events that took place Monday night.
“If a precedent has been set here — of the police coming in — then it is a collective loss, it is a loss for this institution collectively and it is a loss for us individually,” he said.
“But the maxim of equity of this is that people who demand equity, their hands should be clean,” he added.
“So, I say when the police came in, it was a collective violation,” he reiterated, adding “but if someone comes in and swears at us, we should condemn him too”.
