LAHORE – Speaker Punjab Assembly Malik Mohammad Ahmad Khan Friday expressed his frustration over the arrest of four PTI legislators without his prior permission as required under the rules.
Presiding over the Assembly session convened on the requisition of the Opposition, the speaker instructed the issuance of production orders for the arrested PTI MPAs stating that he had not slept for two nights after witnessing this situation. “I regret the arrest of the assembly members. I have informed the police that they must state the reason before making any arrests. Why have four to five members of the assembly not been released despite the issuance of production orders?” asked the Speaker. The speaker went on to say: “How can the arrest of honorable members take place? I will address this issue. The people being arrested are members of this honorable house. Why are they being arrested repeatedly? I will resolve this issue permanently”.
“Four members were arrested; who was the authority from whom permission was taken for their arrest?” asked the speaker. The law minister replied that permission was sought from the acting speaker for the arrest of the four individuals. “I will not accept being informed after the arrest. I will summon the government and the IG Punjab,” declared the speaker of the Assembly. “There is a difference between being informed after an arrest and being notified prior to an arrest,” clarified the speaker. The law minister assured the speaker that in future, the government will instruct the police to seek permission from the speaker of the Punjab Assembly before making any arrests.
“If any honorable member is assaulted by the police or their privacy is violated, they have the right to be protected,” emphasized the speaker.”The details I have been provided are extremely disgraceful. I will show you the video in the chamber,” the Speaker said in conversation with the law minister. “If anyone causes destruction in the name of protest, the government must take action,” the speaker maintained. The arrested PTI members were later brought to the Assembly and the speaker ordered that they be kept at the MPA hostel. He instructed the Leader of the Opposition and the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs to come fully prepared for a detailed discussion on the arrests and the scope of the protests, before adjourning Punjab Assembly session until 2 p.m. on Monday.
Earlier, in the Punjab Assembly session, both government and opposition members expressed complete mistrust in the Punjab police. Opposition members alleged that assembly members were being picked up from their homes without the speaker’s permission.
Also, the issue of criminals from the Katcha area resurfaced in the Punjab Assembly on Friday. Treasury member Mumtaz Chang and opposition member Jam Amanullah had a face-off over this issue on the Assembly floor.
Mumtaz Chang stated that if criminals are killed in police encounters, he would reward the police, but people are killed in fake encounters, and he is being targeted in retaliation. Opposition member Jam Amanullah responded that if Chang is truly troubled by the criminals in the Katcha area, he should speak to former President Asif Ali Zardari, as the Sindh police provide shelter to these criminals.
During the session, a treasury member Ahmed Ahsan Iqbal raised an objection to the waving of pictures of the PTI founder and the banners were removed on instructions of the chair.
PTI member Colonel (Retd) Shoaib Amir called the DPO of Layyah the most corrupt officer, saying that if he wanted, he could pay to have a false case filed against the Speaker of the Punjab Assembly.
Also, the annual reports of the Punjab Ring Road Authority and the Punjab Public Service Commission’s annual performance reports were presented, and the draft law for the Punjab Clean Water Authority was also approved.
The arrested PTI members were later brought to the Assembly and the speaker ordered that they be kept at the MPA hostel. He instructed the Leader of the Opposition and the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs to come fully prepared for a detailed discussion on the arrests and the scope of the protests, before adjourning the Punjab Assembly session until 2 p.m. on Monday.
