NA speaker faces partisan charge

The opposition on Wednesday accused National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser of rigging house business, raising its objections on house proceedings and legislative matters.

Irked by the apparent non-traditional house proceedings, PML-N leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi claimed that unfortunately the lower house business was not conducted as per the Constitution or parliament traditions over the last three years.

“House business is being conducted according to the parliament tradition, not at the discretion of the speaker,” he said, “If the opposition cannot deliver speech then the leader of the house cannot.”

The Pakistan Peoples Party also shared its reservations over the apparent double standards of the house. “On one hand [the government] talks about taking austerity measures and on the other hand it got supplementary grants. This is an example of a bad budget. ” PPP leader Shazia Marri said.

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She alleged that there was a contradiction in the words and deeds of the incumbent government. Marri lamented that there was long load shedding in the country and a huge supplementary budget has been approved for the power sector.

It is pertinent to mention that the opposition has been wary of the nature of house business. It has demanded of the speaker to give equal time to the lawmakers from both sides of the aisle to speak.

However, the treasury has accused the opposition of bringing bad image to parliament.
PML-N leader Khawaja Asif the incumbent government’s way of running the house business has apparently affected the parliament stature. He added that the NA speaker has the highest responsibility.

“Because of politicians mistakes, somebody else is taking our place,” Asif said.
Confronting the JUI lawmakers, NA Speaker Qaiser said: “Do not dictate me. No one has the audacity to dictate me.”