Islamabad:
The Presidential Officer of the Senate on Tuesday did not allow the head of the opposition Shibli Faraz to present a decision due to non-compliance with the procedure-a event that led to a heated exchange between PTI’s Shibli Faraz and Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar from PML-N.
By taking the floor, Shibli Faraz noted that the Senate ended its first year since the installation of the PML-N LED coalition government, and yet the Election Commission in Pakistan (ECP) had failed to implement the Senate election in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).
He demanded to know the legal status of all laws passed during this period when the Senate was incomplete. He said this violation of the Constitution could result in the application of Article 6 of the Constitution on Legislators, including him.
He claimed that all this was done for just one person, PTI founder Imran Khan. “This house no longer represents the Federation. It represents a few people. An entire province is not represented in this house,” he added.
Shibli asked why the government did not implement the constitution and the law. “As we approach the courts, their doors are closed to us. After the 26th amendment you have packed the courts. You do not allow us to hold rallies,” he added.
In response to the opposition leader, Azam Nazeer Tarar said the ECP had issued a schedule for election of the Senate in KP. However, the KP assembly speaker administered to PTI, not the oath of legislators, administered or called the assembly session on time.
He later said that Peshawar High Court (PHC) ordered the speaker to convene the session and manage oath. However, the court’s order was not followed.
“When the Senate election was held nationwide, the KP assembly failed to convene, which led to a delay in the senate election in the province. The delay was not caused by government but by the other side [the PTI]”He said.
Tarar said that if there was ever a clear case for Article 6, it was when the then NA speaker dissolved the assembly after a trust was introduced without confidence in the PTI government in April 2022.
“The Supreme Court struck down the step restored the assembly and delivered a clap in our faces. Today you earn as opposition leader in that very setup,” he added,
During the session, Shibli Faraz tried to present a decision in parliament, but the presidential officer, Irfan Siddiqui, stopped him and urged him to follow the rules and first submit the decision to the Senate Secretariat.
A heated exchange followed between Shibli Faraz and Azam Nazeer Tarar. At one point, Shibli asked Tarar to stay within his limits and not to dictate the chairman. In response, Tarar also asked him to stay within his limits and stop dictating him.
