ISLAMABAD:
The National Assembly on Wednesday witnessed heated exchanges between Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) members during the ongoing budget session, with repeated use of unparliamentary language, which was later removed by the speaker.
The House, led by Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, saw sharp verbal confrontations as opposition and government lawmakers clashed over various political and budgetary issues, pushing matters close to disorder at times.
Earlier Speaker Asad Qaiser, speaking on a point of personal explanation, launched a strong attack on Defense Minister Khawaja Asif, demanding his resignation and raising questions about political negotiations and alleged electoral conduct.
He claimed that negotiations involving intelligence officers had taken place at his residence and even at the Speaker’s House during discussions on Financial Action Task Force (FATF)-related legislation. However, he questioned why, in his opinion, the defense minister’s conscience had not been troubled by the “mandate theft”, including PTI leader Rehana Dars.
Asad Qaiser also referred to the 8 February 2024 election alleging electoral irregularities and challenged Khawaja Asif to resign and contest against Rehana Dar if he was in doubt about the mandate.
During the session, National Food Security Minister Rana Tanveer Hussain said the government had introduced several schemes for farmers in the budget. He added that the tax system was linked with a faceless mechanism to ensure that no taxpayer could be blackmailed.
The House also witnessed a tense exchange during Rana Tanveer Hussain’s speech when PTI legislator Aatif Khan raised objections, sparking a war of words between members of the treasury and opposition benches.
The situation escalated to the point where members from both sides moved towards each other, but colleagues intervened to prevent the confrontation from escalating. PTI chairman Barrister Gohar later criticized the budget and demanded withdrawal of “an unconstitutional” faceless system.
In another incident, during the speech of PML-N MNA Azhar Qayyum Nahra, criticism of PTI founder Imran Khan led to protests by opposition member Shafqat Awan, who responded with unparliamentary language.
The remarks were returned in kind, prompting female parliamentarians to stage a protest over the use of inappropriate language in the House. The situation was eventually defused with the intervention of Prime Minister Talal Chaudhry and other members.
The budget debate also saw exchanges between Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) members. PPP MNA Naz Baloch, without mentioning the MQM-P, raised pointed issues related to the Baldia Town tragedy, extortion activities and “china-cutting” in parks.
In response, MQM-P leader Khawaja Izharul Hassan said those involved in large-scale corruption had been allowed to remain in politics, adding that complaints about Sindh’s deprivation were evidence of the failure of the 18th constitutional amendment, which called for its reversal.
PPP member Shazia Marri called for no obstacles to be created in the formation of a PPP-led government in Gilgit-Baltistan and demanded that Islamabad International Airport be renamed after Shaheed Benazir Bhutto.
Amid the heated exchanges, Deputy Speaker Syed Ghulam Mustafa Shah, who chaired the session at one point, warned the members that he would be forced to suspend proceedings if discipline was not maintained in the House.
The session saw a noticeably low turnout after the Maghrib prayer break, with only 19 members present in the House as the budget debate continued. The meeting was later postponed to Thursday at 11 a.m.
