LAHORE, May 22: The much-hyped Punjab Assembly session which was called on Sunday to take up no-confidence motions against the speaker and the deputy speaker was adjourned after a few minutes with most of the “fireworks” taking place outside the assembly building.
The session which was due to start at 12:30 pm was firstly delayed for nearly two hours and when it started lasted for few minutes only and was adjourned until June 6. The session started without the PML-N and PPP lawmakers. Only 26 MPAs were present in the House when the session, presided over by Panel of Chairman Wasim Khan Badozai, was put off. The Assembly will now meet again on June 6 at 12:30 pm.
Interestingly, the PA session which began exactly at 2:07 pm and lasted until 2:19 pm rejected the no-confidence motion against Punjab Assembly Speaker Pervaiz Elahi citing absence of its movers.
Voting on the no-confidence motions against the Punjab Assembly speaker and deputy speaker was part of the agenda of the Sunday’s assembly session marred by delay and a face-off between between PML-N and PTI lawmakers outside the assembly.
Police ensured foolproof security measures on the assembly premises, and all the outsiders were barred from entering Punjab Assembly. The government also prepared its strategy before the assembly session as Punjab Chief Minister Hamza Shehbaz held consultations with the lawmakers of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and allied parties.
The members of the Punjab Assembly belonging to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) staged a protest at the gate of assembly after they were not allowed to enter the building. It was decided in the meeting of the PML-N parliamentary party meeting chaired by Chief Minister Hamza Shehbaz and was also attended by PPP and independent MPAs, that 20 PML-N lawmakers along with a media team will proceed to the Punjab Assembly and if the situation is conducive then the remained PML-N members will be asked to come along.
When the first batch of PML-N MPAs reached at the assembly the gates were shut. They forcefully knocked at the gate and even kicked it but no one was opening it. They then staged a protest outside the gate.
The PML-N members then staged a sit-in outside the gate and raised slogans against the speaker. In the meanwhile a group of PTI MPAs led by Fyyazul Hassan Chohan reached at the gate and then both sides traded allegations. After sometime, the gates were opened and the PML-N lawmakers were allowed to enter.
PML-N leader Attaullah Tarar alleged while talking to media that Punjab Assembly was under the control of Pervaiz Elahi’s thugs. He stated that media and MPAs were not being allowed to enter Punjab Assembly, adding that it was unconstitutional to seal the assembly building.
He also maintained that the chief minister’s security team was not allowed to enter the assembly building. “We will get the doors of the assembly opened,” he vowed. “Pervaiz Elahi has called the thugs from Gujrat; pictures are available,” he blamed. – TLTP
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