The confrontation between the government of Punjab and the opposition on the suspension of 26 MPa of Pakistan Tehreek-E-insaf (PTI) seems to have been resolved, while the two parties reached a negotiated settlement, paving the way for the withdrawal of disqualification references filed against the opposition legislators.
According to NewsThe President of the Punjab Assembly, Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan, decided to abolish the references subject to the Pakistan Electoral Commission (ECP) against the 26 AMP suspension.
On the instructions of the speaker, the officials of the assembly have prepared a draft order suspended the government’s requests, which will be officially issued to the declaration of the foreign speaker.
The references were initially filed by the legislators of the Treasury, notably Ahmad Iqbal, Mian Mujtaba Shujaur Rehman and Iftikhar Ahmed Chhachhar, accusing the members of the fault opposition during a recent assembly session.
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The controversy stems from an incident on June 27, when 26 members of the PTI were suspended from the Assembly for having created a “disturbance, heckles and singing indecent slogans” during the speech of the chief minister of Punjab, Maryam Nawaz. The action was taken under rule 210 (3) of the procedural rules of the Punjab Assembly, 1997.
Despite the receipt of disqualification requests for the Treasury benches, President Khan granted the AMP in suspension the possibility of presenting their case under article 10-A of the Constitution, which guarantees the right to a fair hearing. The hearing took place in the speaker’s room in the Punjab assembly.
Subsequently, a negotiation committee comprising members of the PML-N, its Allied parties and PTI was formed to resolve the dead end.
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The committee met three times, the last meeting held on Thursday. Although no official announcement was made after previous tricks, the two parties described talks as productive.
Sources have indicated that the speaker’s final decision would determine the time to restore MPA. The opposition, however, argued that it would boycott all the procedures of the Assembly until the suspended legislators are officially reintegrated.
Addressing journalists, the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Mian Mujtaba Shujaur Rehman, confirmed that progress had been made, saying that the government and the opposition had agreed with a set of conditions.
