PTI govt spared blushes in National Assembly over Suri de-seating

One of its allies points out quorum; session is adjourned indefinitely

ISLAMABAD: Taking advantage of opposition’s failure to build on the opportunity provided by the de-notification of Qasim Suri as deputy speaker, the treasury on Wednesday put off the National Assembly session by pointing out quorum.

It was a rare occurrence when one of the government allies -- Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M’s) -- MNA Shahnaz Baloch pointed to the Panel of Chair Fakhar Imam that the House lacked required number to run the affairs.

Imam, in response, read the presidential order of adjourning the NA session for an indefinite period.

Opposition leaders including Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP’s) Raja Pervez Ashraf on coming to know about the lack of quorum left the House and this paved the way for the government to prorogue the session for an indefinite period.

Parliamentary sources said that it was a pre-planned effort aimed at avoiding the election of deputy speaker because the proceedings, as in the recent past, were neither temporarily suspended nor suspended till the next day but adjourned through a presidential order, which implied that the speaker’s chamber had already made up its mind to put off the proceedings before time.

Sources added that it was important to inform the House about the de-seating of Qasim Suri by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) because once the deputy speaker is de-seated, its election becomes mandatory.

The sources further said that the opposition was currently not in a position to take part in the election of deputy speaker. The government is expecting a stay order from the Supreme Court that would save Suri from being de-seated, otherwise, it will have to lobby for the new candidate.

Meanwhile, addressing a news conference along with other opposition leaders outside the parliament house in the federal capital on Wednesday, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Khawaja Asif termed the postponement ‘unusual’ and alleged that the government was trying to give a cover to Suri who had been disqualified from his post of NA deputy speaker by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

He alleged that thumb impressions were used in Suri’s constituency.

The former defence minister slammed the government for running the affairs of parliament in an unconstitutional manner.

PPP’s Raja Pervez Ashraf maintained that the government was damaging the parliamentary system.

He observed that the government had failed miserably in stopping the spread of dengue virus, while inflation had wreaked havoc on the lives of people.

The former premier warned that democracy in Pakistan may suffer as the issues of parliament were not being dealt with seriously.

“Government’s attitude is non-serious and non-parliamentarian. Unemployment is on the rise. The House should be allowed to be run in a parliamentary manner,” he said.

Ashraf stated that members called for issuing production orders for their colleagues but the speaker refused to listen to them.

He pointed out that Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) had recommended decrease in the price of petroleum products but the government did not pay heed to the suggestion.

PPP leader Abdul Qadir Patel maintained that a bill for amendment in Article 239 had been presented in the House which would allow federation to determine the domain of the provinces would by no means be acceptable.

He said that the mission to divide Sindh will never succeed.