PTI moves privilege motion in NA against PML-N lawmakers following pandemonium
PTI. PML-N MNAs traded blows in NA as opposition slammed PM Nawaz
PTI chairman Imran Khan. PHOTO: REUTERS
ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf on Friday submitted a privilege motion in the National Assembly against the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) after a scuffle broke out between lawmakers of both the parties.
"We the undersigned (signatures attached) wish to move a privilege motion against PML-N MNAs, including Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Mian Mannan, Capt Safdar and others, who on January 26, 2017 during the NA session physically moved towards the Opposition side and took physical aim at PTI MNAs as well as hurling abuses against them," the motion read.
Scuffle in parliament: MNAs trade blows as opposition slams PM
The motion further added, "We feel the violent attack led by PML-N MNAs with a deliberate march towards the Opposition as well as Mian Mannan's obscene gestures constitute a breach of our privilege as MNAs.
On Thursday, pandemonium broke out in the lower house of parliament when government and opposition lawmakers traded punches after opposition MNAs castigated Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for making contradictory statements about his family members’ businesses and London properties.
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.
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 PM Nawaz for his allegedly contradictory statements on the Panama Papers issue.
Ruckus in NA as speaker turns down opposition’s privilege motions on Panama Papers
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.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf on Friday submitted a privilege motion in the National Assembly against the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) after a scuffle broke out between lawmakers of both the parties.
"We the undersigned (signatures attached) wish to move a privilege motion against PML-N MNAs, including Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Mian Mannan, Capt Safdar and others, who on January 26, 2017 during the NA session physically moved towards the Opposition side and took physical aim at PTI MNAs as well as hurling abuses against them," the motion read.
Scuffle in parliament: MNAs trade blows as opposition slams PM
The motion further added, "We feel the violent attack led by PML-N MNAs with a deliberate march towards the Opposition as well as Mian Mannan's obscene gestures constitute a breach of our privilege as MNAs.
On Thursday, pandemonium broke out in the lower house of parliament when government and opposition lawmakers traded punches after opposition MNAs castigated Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for making contradictory statements about his family members’ businesses and London properties.
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.
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 PM Nawaz for his allegedly contradictory statements on the Panama Papers issue.
Ruckus in NA as speaker turns down opposition’s privilege motions on Panama Papers
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.