PTI lawmakers protest after being denied permission to attend NA session

Speaker Raja Pervez Ashraf says resigned lawmakers would not be allowed to participate in the proceedings

ISLAMABAD:

National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervez Ashraf on Wednesday declared that members of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), who have resigned, would not be allowed to participate in today’s proceedings, following consultation with constitutional experts.

The Election Commission of Pakistan’s notification regarding the resignations of PTI members has been suspended by the Sindh High Court, as confirmed by the National Assembly spokesperson.

However, the spokesperson also clarified that the Sindh High Court had not yet made a decision regarding the speaker’s ruling on eligibility of the resigned PTI members to participate in National Assembly proceedings.

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According to the rules of the National Assembly, resigned members of the PTI are now considered out of the lower house of parliament and are not permitted to enter the House, said a spokesperson for the NA. The spokesperson also noted that the rules prohibit the entry of strangers into the National Assembly.

Meanwhile, PTI members of National Assembly from Karachi staged protest over the speaker's ruling outside the Parliament House.

Police forcibly prevented nine PTI MNAs from Karachi from entering the building, leading to scuffles between the law enforcement officials and the PTI parliamentarians.

The lawmakers claimed to have a court order allowing their entry into parliament, but were denied access.

In response, the PTI MNAs staged a sit-in protest in front of the NA building and vowed to continue their protest until they are allowed to attend the session.