PML-N condemns govt behaviour during NA session

Holds joint parliamentary meeting in both houses of parliament

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) joint parliamentary party on Tuesday strongly condemned the behaviour of the treasury members during Monday’s National Assembly session.

When the microphone was handed over to PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif to start debate on the budget during the NA session on Monday, he made the claim that hundreds of people were dying of hunger due to the weak policies of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government.

This infuriated the treasury members, who started shouting and moving towards him, but PML-N MNAs surrounded Shehbaz to protect him. NA Speaker Asad Qaiser intervened on several occasions to calm the situation down, but to no avail. As a result, the budget debate failed to kick off.

The joint parliamentary party meeting was held in both houses – upper and lower – of parliament and presided over by Shehbaz, who is also the opposition leader in the NA, and PML-N Chairman Raja Zafarul Haq.

During the meeting, Shehbaz took party members into confidence over his meeting with Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman.

During the meeting, party members discussed the agenda of the All Parties Conference and setting its date as well as pondered over the strategy for blocking the passage of the budget in the session.

They strongly condemned the government behaviour at the budget session, saying that their attitude showed fear and actually “they want to hide the facts from the people”.

“It is evident after barring Shehbaz from speaking during the assembly session that this is a people-enemy budget as they [PTI government] are scared that Shehbaz will reveal the truth about the IMF-made budget,” they added.

It was decided during the meeting to reply to the government’s behaviour in a firm manner.