Denial of access to Imran sparks PTI uproar in PA

Uproar mars debate over constitutional amendments

LAHORE:

A Punjab Assembly session called on the opposition's requisition descended into chaos on Friday as the Opposition demanded that the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa chief minister be allowed to meet PTI founder Imran Khan, while the government accused PTI of disruptive politics.

The sitting eventually collapsed after a government lawmaker pointed out a lack of quorum.

Speaking on the assembly floor, Opposition Leader Moeen Riaz Qureshi urged Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan to permit a meeting between the KP chief minister and the jailed PTI founder, citing a high court order already in place.

He accused the government of political victimisation, alleging that several PTI-backed MPAs had been disqualified on the basis of "fake cases and fabricated evidence."

Qureshi said that despite PTI's boycott, the party still secured 5% of the vote and entered the House.

"The country is going through a critical phase," he warned. "We cannot confront foreign adversaries unless we unite internally."

He alleged interference in KP and Balochistan by "Afghans acting as India's proxies" and questioned why a chief minister with a two-third majority was being denied access to his party's founder.

He also condemned restrictions on political visitors at Adiala Jail, saying that even hardened criminals were allowed family and legal access. He demanded that Imran Khan's relatives and lawyers be allowed visitation under jail rules. Turning to governance issues, the opposition leader criticised the government for rising sugar prices, unaffordable gas and electricity, and an escalating dengue outbreak.

He alleged that health officials were instructing hospitals not to register dengue cases and accused authorities of siphoning off "millions from the Suthra Punjab project."