The presiding officer in the Senate on Tuesday did not allow Leader of the Opposition Shibli Faraz to present a resolution due to non-adherence to procedurean event that led to a heated exchange between PTI's Shibli Faraz and Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar of the PML-N.
Taking the floor, Shibli Faraz noted that the Senate was completing its first year since installation of the PML-N led coalition government and yet the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had failed to conduct Senate election in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P).
He demanded to know the legal status of all laws passed during this period when the Senate was incomplete. He said this violation of the Constitution could result in application of Article 6 of the Constitution on lawmakers including him.
He claimed that all of this was being done for just one person, the PTI founder Imran Khan. "This house no longer represents the federation. It represents a select few individuals. An entire province is unrepresented in this house," he added.
Shibli asked why the government was not implementing the Constitution and the law. "When we approach the courts, their doors are closed for us. After the 26th Amendment, you have packed the courts. You do not allow us to hold rallies," he added.
Responding to the leader of opposition, Azam Nazeer Tarar said the ECP had issued a schedule for Senate elections in the K-P. However, the K-P assembly speaker, who belongs to the PTI, did not administer the oath to lawmakers or call the assembly session on time.
He said later the Peshawar High Court (PHC) directed the speaker to convene the session and administer oaths. However, the court's order was not followed.
"When Senate elections were held nationwide, the K-P Assembly failed to convene, leading to a delay in the Senate elections in the province. The delay was not caused by the government but by the other side [the PTI]," he said.
Tarar said if there was ever a clear case for Article 6, it was when the then NA speaker dissolved the assembly after a no-confidence motion was introduced against the PTI government in April 2022.
"The Supreme Court struck down that move, restoring the assembly and delivering a slap in our faces. Today, you are serving as the opposition leader in that very setup," he added,
During the session, Shibli Faraz attempted to present a resolution in the house, but the presiding officer, Irfan Siddiqui, stopped him, urging him to follow the rules and first submit the resolution to the Senate Secretariat.
A heated exchange followed between Shibli Faraz and Azam Nazeer Tarar. At one point, Shibli asked Tarar to stay within his limits and not to dictate the chair. In response, Tarar also asked him to stay within his limits and stop dictating him.
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