Screen-grab shows PTI’s Shehryar Afridi and minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi engaged in a scuffle in the lower house.
The rumpus began when Opposition Leader Khursheed Shah took the floor on a point of order and urged the National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq to take up the privilege motion moved jointly by the PPP and PTI against the PM before all else.
Scuffle breaks out between PTI, PML-N lawmakers in National Assembly
Shah’s address was followed by PTI’s parliamentary leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi’s charged speech in which he pressed the speaker to take up opposition’s privilege motion against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for his allegedly contradictory statements on the Panama Papers issue.
During Qureshi’s scathing criticism of the PM, members from both the treasury and opposition benches also shouted slogans against each other. But the trading of barbs soon degenerated into an all-out brawl when Petroleum Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi rushed towards Qureshi’s seat in an aggressive manner.
The body language of Abbasi – who was also followed by a few other PML-N lawmakers – alarmed and enraged the PTI members, who rose from their seats and headed towards him. In the exchange, PTI’s Shehryar Afridi received a punch from the ruling PML-N’s MNA Moeen Wattoo.
The scuffle was so intense that sergeants at arms were called in to intervene. However, even the sergeants could not handle the situation and other NA staffers deputed to assist the MNAs in the house had to step in to make a human chain, separating the treasury and opposition benches.
After the incident, the speaker suspended the proceedings for some time while the entire opposition left the house in protest and did not return. Later, the house transacted most of the agenda during the remaining proceedings and witnessed the passage of two bills.
Speeches of Shah and Qureshi
Speaking on a point of order, Khursheed Shah earlier said the PM in his address on the floor of the house had said he would provide documents when required about the money trail of his family’s London properties.
However, he said, the premier told the Supreme Court hearing the Panamagate case that he enjoyed immunity as an MNA and that his parliamentary speech could not be used as evidence in the court.
“This is a privilege issue of parliament as the prime minister made incorrect statement in parliament. We have the opinion that the parliament is supreme. They themselves degrade parliament by making different statements on the floor of the house and outside of it,” he said.
He recalled that at first there was a letter from a Qatari prince. This letter was followed by another one to establish the money trail of the ruling family. “We should think what we will hand down to our future generation if we use parliament for our (vested) interests,” he said.
Responding to Shah, the speaker said he had forwarded the privilege motion to his secretariat for reconsideration and would seek legal opinion on it as well, if needed.
On a point of order, Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that the premier should come to the house and inform the nation about the facts pertaining to the money trail of his family’s properties and businesses as revealed in the Panama Papers.
He said in the court the PM has thrashed the statement he made on the floor of the House. He said he feared after emergence of these two letters by a Qatari prince, a third letter would also surface.
“The entire story about the money trail of the ruling family has changed and now to cover up the PM’s parliamentary statement immunity is being sought. The PM has made fun of the house by contradicting the statement made in parliament,” he said.
Ruckus in NA as speaker turns down opposition’s privilege motions on Panama Papers
Repeating observation of an apex court judge, Qureshi said the PM says his life is like an open book but there are many pages missing from this open book. He said if the PM’s speech in the NA was based on truth and his statement in the court is false then he should send his legal counsel packing. At this juncture, scuffles broke out.
After the opposition staged a walkout, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif hit the podium and launched a personal attack on Qureshi, who is also a sajjada nasheen – spiritual leader of Ghousia Jamaat – and alleged him of living on the earning of graves.
He said Qureshi’s ancestors got properties from the British as a reward for betraying the freedom fighters during the 1857 war of independence. He also criticised the Jamaat-e-Islami for opposing the creation of Pakistan prior to the partition of the subcontinent.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 27th, 2017.
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