The Punjab government has decided to stop further punishing actions against suspended Pakistan Tehreek-E-Insaf (PTI) Members of provincial ASeamble (MPAs) in the midst of ongoing negotiations.
Opposition legislators were suspended by Punjab assembly speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan after chaotic scenes in the house on June 27, when members from both sides of the time dealt with a physical shift under chief minister Maryam Nawaz’s address.
In an attempt to solve the resistance, the speaker had put together a negotiating committee of eight members consisting of members of both the Treasury and the opposition.
The committee held two rounds of negotiations, the last Sunday night. While no formal breakthrough was achieved at these meetings, government sources indicated on Tuesday that some progress had been made, which made a decision to step down.
Read more: No progress in conversations about suspended PTI MPAs; Dialogue to continue
According to Express News, the speaker has instructed the Assembly Secretariat and government members to suspend further actions against the opposition until the negotiations produce final results.
The Assembly Secretariat had initially planned additional measures against 19 suspended opposition MPAs, including fines imposed 10 of them for alleged vandalism in the house. These fines along with other messages and deductions from wages have now been paused.
Sources said the suspended legislators had been fineds over DKK 20 million. RS and earlier got a week’s time limit to pay or face stricter action. However, these enforcement measures are now withheld pending the outcome of the ongoing dialogue.
In addition, the government has also suspended plans to lose movements without confidence against nine more opposition chairmen in the standing committees. Previously, four such chairmen had already been removed through similar movements.
According to government sources, a total of 13 opposition legislators were intended to be removed from their committee positions as part of the disciplinary reaction to events June 27. This plan has also been put on wait in the light of the negotiations.
