- Chaos in NA over Panama Leaks
ISLAMABAD, December 19: A session of the National Assembly reconvened on Monday evening after a two-hour delay. Speaker Ayaz Sadiq started the house proceedings by asking Awami Muslim League (AML) Sheikh Rashid to address the session.
Talking about Panamagate, Sheikh Rashid said Nawaz Sharif made mistakes while addressing the issue, “and a person makes such mistakes only when he is guilty”.
Rashid said that the prime minister claimed in parliament that he had proof [of all the business transactions] but his lawyer later told the apex court that they have no evidence of the same.
After the speaker allowed PML-N lawmaker Daniyal Aziz to speak, pandemonium broke out in the PTI benches, with lawmakers protesting the speaker’s decision.
Ayaz Sadiq reminded PTI lawmakers it had been decided that first the opposition would speak and then the government would be allowed to respond, but the lawmakers continued chanting slogans against the prime minister. Continued on page 7
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PTI leader Shireen Mazari asked Speaker Ayaz Sadiq to let Qureshi speak, in response Sadiq asked her to read the rule book placed in front her first.
The speaker then allowed PTI leader Shah Mahmood Qureshi to address the house again. Qureshi claimed it was not the PTI’s goal to disrupt the house and asked for assurance that the PM would reply to lawmakers.
As the session began late, the question and answer session was subsequently postponed following a motion presented by Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Maryam Aurangzeb.
Ruckus and disorderly conduct also overshadowed the last two sessions, following the return of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) lawmakers in National Assembly (NA).
In the last session, PTI leader Shah Mahmood Qureshi had requested Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to attend the next session and clarify his position.
Speaker Ayaz Sadiq had tried to maintain order in the house but PML-N lawmakers began yelling when Qureshi started to address the speaker in a hostile manner.
The PTI and PPP submitted privilege motions in the NA claiming that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had misguided lawmakers in a speech regarding his assets delivered earlier this year.
The PPP in its privilege motion said the PM, through his lawyers, told the Supreme Court that his speech in the Parliament on May 16 was “a ‘political statement’ and was not [meant] to be taken seriously. This implies that all his previous policy statements are also to be taken likewise”.
In a similarly privilege motion, the PTI said the PM had told the House that he had “documents to prove his case.” But his lawyers said no records were kept as business was conducted via “parchis (chits)”, it stated.-Agencies
