ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s National Assembly speaker, Asad Qaiser, on Wednesday barred seven lawmakers from entering the House building, after scuffles and “unparliamentary” behavior during a session a day earlier.
The House turned into a battleground on Tuesday as opposition and treasury members shouted obscenities and hit each other with budget documents and fists, with government lawmakers refusing to stop sloganeering meant to disrupt the budget speech of Leader of the Opposition, Shehbaz Sharif.
The battle went on after the speaker suspended the proceedings, and only stopped when the assembly hall lights were switched off.
In a notification shared on Twitter, the House speaker barred from entering the building three lawmakers from the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), one of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), and three from the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, including the prime minister’s special assistant on capital development authority affairs, Ali Nawaz Awan.
“Members who were disruptive during the National Assembly session and the Leader of the Opposition’s speech yesterday were barred from entering the House due to their unparliamentary and inappropriate behavior,” Qaiser said.
— Asad Qaiser (@AsadQaiserPTI) June 16, 2021
The lawmakers, he said in the notification, have been banned from entering the House building “till further orders.”
Despite the speaker’s punitive measure, the budget speech of Sharif was again disrupted by other lawmakers for a third consecutive day on Wednesday
Surrounded by sergeants, the opposition leader tried to deliver his address amid sloganeering by other parliament members, despite Qaiser’s appeals for calm. The speaker adjourned the session after an object was thrown at his platform.
“I will not conduct this House until both the government and the opposition settle their matters,” he was quoted as saying by the local media.
Sharif’s speech has been rescheduled for Thursday.
