ISLAMABAD:

Senators belonging to the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) protested in the Senate on Tuesday when their colleague Ejaz Chaudhry was not brought to the House despite the issuance of a production order by Speaker Yousuf Raza Gilani.

During the session, with Gilani in the chair, finance ministry lawmakers lashed out at Leader of the Opposition Shibli Faraz for his ‘inappropriate’ remarks against the government. They warned the opposition that its tirade would not be tolerated.

The PTI members surrounded the chairman’s desk with pictures of Ejaz Chaudhry and Imran Khan after the production order of Ejaz Chaudhry was not implemented. They raised slogans demanding the release of Ejaz Chaudhry and withdrawal of “false cases” against him.

Opposition Leader Shibli Faraz said the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had promised to turn the country into an economic tiger but had turned it into a jackal instead. Later, the PTI legislators staged a walkout from the case.

The Treasury members stood up in protest and dismissed Faraz’s remarks. “What is this,” asked PML-N parliamentary party leader Irfan Siddiqui. “It’s not going to happen that we keep listening to what they say.” He demanded that the chairman remove the remarks.

Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal hit back at the PTI, saying that under his government it had looted Pakistan’s resources and used the name of Islam to hide its theft. “This Islamic touch will no longer work here,” he said.

Law Minister Azam Nazir Tarar said religion should not be used as a shield. He told the house that the cases against the PTI members were in the courts and therefore the opposition should talk about them in the house.

Tarar said the talks between the government and PTI were on and to facilitate the talks, the government had also arranged a meeting between the PTI founder and his party’s negotiation team on Sunday.

Talking about the non-production of Ijaz Chaudhry in the House, the Law Minister suggested that the matter should be taken up in the House Advisory Committee and the Negotiation Committee.

Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, who was responding to an attention notice by Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) lawmaker Sherry Rehman, told the House that Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flights to Europe had been restored due to measures taken by the government.

Dar also said that the privatization process of the national airline would definitely go ahead.

The session was later adjourned to Wednesday (today).