PA session adjourned after MPA's death

LAHORE:

Proceedings of the Punjab Assembly were adjourned on Monday following the demise of Member Provincial Assembly (MPA) Irfan Shafi Khokhar and former chief minister Manzoor Wattoo.

No legislative business was transacted during the sitting as members across the aisle offered Fateha and prayers for the departed souls.

The session was presided over by a member of the Panel of Chairpersons, Samiullah Khan.

On a joint request from treasury and opposition members, the House was adjourned until Tuesday at 2:00 pm.

Opposition lawmaker Rana Shahbaz and treasury members Iftikhar Hussain Chhachhar and Raja Shaukat Bhatti formally requested the chair to adjourn the sitting in view of Irfan Shafi Khokhar's passing.

During the proceedings, Raja Shaukat Bhatti also proposed that a photograph of the late MPA be displayed in the corridors of the Punjab Assembly as a mark of respect.

Members from both sides of the House expressed deep grief and extended condolences to the bereaved families.

Treasury members, including Tariq Gul, Saeed Akbar Nawani, Raja Shaukat Bhatti and Iftikhar Hussain Chhachhar, along with several other lawmakers, paid tribute to the late leaders and prayed for the eternal peace of their souls.

Irfan Shafi Khokhar belonged to a well-known political family and had been elected to the Punjab Assembly for the first time on a Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) ticket.