LAHORE: The government and opposition committees on Sunday failed to reach a consensus on the speaker’s disqualification reference against opposition lawmakers in the Punjab Assembly, but agreed to continue talks.
Punjab Assembly Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan chaired the session of the government and opposition committees; however, both sides have not reached an agreement on any point yet.
Last week, the speaker had filed the disqualification reference with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) against 26 MPAs over ruckus, sloganeering, shouting and tearing of documents in the house during the budget session.
Talking to journalists following the meeting today, Opposition Leader in the Punjab Assembly Malik Ahmad Khan Bhachar said that the meetings would continue until a consensus is achieved.
He claimed that there was no deadlock, adding that the speaker urged both sides to follow all rules of the assembly.
Bhachar said that the matters would not be resolved in an hour or two, and they will move forward by consulting the parliamentary party. The opposition leader added that the PA speaker will bind both parties to follow the Rules of Procedure.
“Things are not finalised yet,” said Punjab Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Mian Mujtaba Shuja-ur-Rehman, hoping that matters would be finalised in one or two more meetings.
He further said that the treasury does not want to deseat the opposition lawmakers nor does it favour disqualifying them. “The treasury wants to restore the respect and dignity of the house,” he said, adding that political matters are resolved via dialogue.
He added that both sides will consult their parliamentary parties on what they have discussed in the meeting today.
Mujtaba also expressed optimism that whatever decision is made here, its reflection will be seen in the National Assembly and other assemblies as well.
In the possible diffusion of the political tensions in Punjab, the government and the opposition have formed their respective negotiation committees to hold dialogue over the issue of speaker’s disqualification reference against the latter’s members in the Punjab Assembly, the sources familiar with the matter said a day ago.
The reference filed against PTI-backed MPAs includes Malik Farhad Masood, Muhammad Tanveer Aslam, Syed Riffat Mehmood, Yasir Mehmood Qureshi, Kaleem Ullah Khan, Muhammad Ansar Iqbal, Ali Asif, Zulfiqar Ali, Ahmad Mujtaba Chaudhary, Shahid Javed, Muhammad Ismael, and Khayal Ahmad.
Shahbaz Ahmad, Tayyab Rashid, Imtiaz Mehmood, Ali Imtiaz, Rashid Tufail, Muhammad Murtaza Iqbal, Khalid Zubair Nisar, Ch Muhammad Ejaz Shafi, Saima Kanwal, Muhammad Naeem, Sajjad Ahmed, Rana, Aourang Zaib, Shuaib Ameer and Usama Asghar Ali Gujjar.
Separately, 10 opposition lawmakers had been fined more than Rs2 million for acts of vandalism such as breaking microphones as per the relevant video evidence.
Those fined include Chaudhary Javed Kausar, Asad Abbas, Tanveer Aslam, Riffat Mehmood, Muhammad Ismael, Shahbaz Ahmad, Imtiaz Mehmood, Khalid Zubair, Rana Aourang Zaib and Muhammad Ahsan Ali — all of whom will have to pay Rs203,550 each.
