ISLAMABAD:
The opposition’s protest marred the proceedings of the National Assembly on the third day of the current session on Thursday, forcing Deputy Speaker Syed Ghulam Mustafa Shah to adjourn the session till Friday (today).
Lawmakers from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) started noisy protests at the start of Question Time in the House. They raised loud slogans in the house and tore up the copies of the agenda. Finance Ministry members accused the opposition of sidestepping the discussion of public issues.
Meanwhile, the opposition’s Iqbal Afridi pointed out the lack of quorum after which the session was briefly adjourned. However, the quorum question remained when the House resumed its session. The chairman therefore adjourned the meeting until Friday (today).
Earlier, during the brief, Information Minister Ataullah Tarar, while answering a question during Question Time, told the house that PTI founder Imran Khan, his wife Bushra Bbi and her friend Farah Gogi were involved in a 190 million pound corruption case. .
The Information Minister, while answering another question, told the National Assembly that the construction of the Diamer-Bhasha dam – one of the largest dams in the world – would be completed on time, which would help reduce the risk of floods.
He said the land acquisition for the dam was completed in 2013 and in the first phase, work to divert the Indus River to the Diamer-Bhasha Dam was completed by May 2024. Tarar added that a permanent bridge was constructed on the dam in June 2024.
Responding to another question, the Information Minister said that power generation was in surplus, while the Power Ministry was considering various proposals to meet the necessary electricity demand in the country.
In response to a question from Member of the National Assembly (MNA) Syed Rafiullah, Parliamentary Secretary for National Health, Dr. Nelson Azeem, the House that the procurement of the nursing council rules was transparently awarded to the lowest bidder.
The parliamentary secretary explained that five parties had applied for the tender, of which four had submitted offers. He added that one party was rejected, while of the remaining two parties, the bid was awarded to the lowest party.
He said no party had filed a case in court while no complaint was raised against the offer. The parliamentary secretary said the tender process was transparent and was awarded to the lowest bidder. (WITH ACCESS FROM APP)
