ISLAMABAD: A National Assembly session was adjourned indefinitely on Tuesday after Opposition Leader Omar Ayub Khan criticised the steamrolling of six bills and his remarks were against last night’s swift legislation were expunged from the record.
Shortly after the session began, Ayub, representing the PTI-led opposition, criticised the steamrolling of six bills a day ago, calling it a “shameful incident” and branding the ruling coalition a “government of thieves”.
Deputy Speaker Mir Ghulam Mustafa Shah promptly intervened, ordering the remarks removed from the record.
On Monday, the government passed crucial legislation including six bills from the National Assembly within 24 minutes, and then from the Senate in just 16 minutes, , despite vociferous protest by the PTI-led opposition.
The bills sought to extend the tenure of the chiefs of the country’s three armed forces and increase the number of judges in the Supreme Court and the Islamabad High Court (IHC).
Later, Acting President Yousuf Raza Gillani signed all six bills into law, but there was no official word from the Presidency until going to press.
In light of the ‘Supreme Court Number of Judges (Amendment) Bill 2024’, the number of judges, including the chief justice, in the apex court has increased from 17 to a maximum of 34.
Similarly, through the ‘Islamabad High Court (Amendment) Bill 2024’, the number of judges there has increased from nine to 12.
The bills regarding the judiciary were tabled in both houses by Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, while those related to the services chiefs were introduced by Defence Minister Khawaja Asif through supplementary agendas, after suspending the rules.
Following Ayub’s remarks, the livestream on the NA’s YouTube channel then went blank, before being removed from the platform altogether. The livestream on PTV Parliament’s YouTube channel also stopped showing the session as soon as Ayub began his speech.
The NA livestream then resumed at 11:48am, before the session was adjourned indefinitely.
Shah said NA Speaker Ayaz Sadiq had yesterday spoken of giving the floor to PTI Chairman Gohar Khan but the proceedings had to be held amid noisy protests.
The deputy speaker then ordered that Ayub’s mic be turned on, but the livestream was again cut off as soon as the PTI MNA started speaking.
The livestream then resumed when independent MNA Aurangzeb Khan Khichi, one of the PTI-backed lawmakers to vote in favour of the 26th Amendment against the party lines, was given a chance to speak.
Responding to PTI’s allegations that he “took money” in return for his vote, Khichi said: “Standing beneath these pure names of Allah, I say that may Allah destroy me if I have taken even a single penny [as bribe].”
The MNA said that Ayub had made allegations of PTI members being pressured and intimidated to vote in favour of the Amendment, adding: “This means that despite knowing about all this, he is feigning ignorance.
Independent MNA Aurangzeb Khan Khichi speaks in NA on November 5. — YouTube/NaofPakistan
“This is true that our party leadership has sold us,” Khichi alleged.
He went on to criticise the PTI for using the tactic of “creating noise to make themselves heard”, before asserting he won “90,000” votes compared to some 2,500 when PTI contested against him.
All the while Khichi spoke, the PTI lawmakers continued thumping their desks in protest, resulting in the deputy speaker calling for order to be restored and then adjourning the session indefinitely.
According to a video shared on the NA’s X and Instagram accounts, speaking on the floor, Ayub criticised the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC), saying the failed PIA privatisation bid was a “slap” on the government’s face.
He lamented an expected increase in gas prices, as well as power and gas load-shedding. “They have not brought the current account deficit under control, [rather] imposed restrictions on import,” Ayub claimed.
Parliamentary process circumvented: Raza Rabbani
Separately, former Senate chairman Raza Rabbani also assailed yesterday’s rushed legislation, saying the parliamentary process was circumvented.
“Yesterday was a dark day in the history of parliament, when important legislation was passed by suspension of rules by the government,” he said in a statement.
“History will hold all of us responsible for circumventing the parliamentary and democratic process,” the former PPP senator asserted.
“The bills have a important impact on the judiciary and the armed forces, as a consequence on the politics, and democratic process,” he highlighted.
Rabbani said such legislation was “not an expression of the sovereignty of parliament or the Constitution, but an expression of fear”. “A frightened Parliament or democratic system is weak and its existence is always under threat.”
