BNP defector resigns from Senate

ISLAMABAD:

The Senate session has been adjourned till Friday after one of the members pointed out lack of quorum.

As soon as the Senate session began on Tuesday, it was postponed for 20 minutes due to the absence of federal ministers. However, when the session resumed, JUI-F Senator Ahmed Khan pointed out the lack of quorum and the house was adjourned until Friday morning.

Meanwhile, talking to media outside the Parliament House, BNP-M chief Sardar Akhtar Khan Mengal said Qasim Roonjho, his party senator, wanted to narrate his ordeal in the Senate but the government broke the quorum. He claimed that even the government ministers did not have a consensus on the 26th constitutional amendment.

He described the recent activities in parliament as a "circus" orchestrated by Zardari and Sharif, adding there is no need to remain in a house where members' honour is not protected.

To a question, he said the resignation of Qasim Roonjho has been accepted, adding that he submitted his resignation to the Senate secretary.

He alleged that the petrol pump of his party's senator's spouse was sealed in Balochistan.

In the latest development, Senator Qasim Roonjho retracted his earlier allegations that influential individuals had kidnapped him and coerced him to vote in favor of the 26th constitutional amendment. Shortly after making those serious allegations, Roonjho said that he had been forced to hold a press conference by party chief Sardar Akhtar Mengal, along with party MPs and activists. He explained that he was merely reading from a prepared statement containing allegations of abduction.

"I had been at home for 15 days. What I said during the press conference was not correct. I refute all that I spoke in the presser," Roonjho stated.