ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), which staged comeback in the lower house of parliament after 224 days, faced an awkward situation in the National Assembly on Monday when MQM and JUI-F lawmakers termed PTI legislators as ‘strangers’ in the House, stirring debate among the parliamentarians.
As MQM legislator Farooq Sattar winded up his brief speech on intervention of the Speaker, Defence Minister Khwaja Muhammad Asif rose to his seat and first moaned without directly naming PTI members that ‘it was still said outside the parliament that this House is bogus.”
The House, during a joint sitting of Parliament to discuss Yemen situation, was echoed with ‘Go Imran Go’ chants by the PML-N legislators.
The minister then urged the Speaker Ayaz Sadiq to seek opinion of each PTI lawmaker one by one whether they have resigned or they are member of the House.
Amid his speech, the minister suddenly burst into anger and asked PTI lawmakers ‘to have some morality, ethics, grace and principle.”
“They are accusing Parliament of being fake but still sitting here, they should have some shame,” said Asif in his hard-hitting one-minute diatribe.
MQM also staged a token walkout from the House in protest as the Speaker had not allowed Farooq Sattar to complete his speech. Speaker NA Ayaz Sadiq directed federal ministers Birjees Tahir, Rana Tanveer and Shiekh Aftab to bring back the MQM MPs in joint sitting of parliament.
When the session begun with Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq in chair, some of the MNAs from ruling PML-N chanted slogans against PTI and its leader Imran Khan.
Opposition Leader in Senate Aitzaz Ahsan cooled the situation through his speech and said the treasury members should adopt polite attitude towards PTI members.
The slogans also disrupted opening speech by Leader of the Opposition in National Assembly, Khursheed Shah, as speaker requested lawmakers to maintain order in the house.
Last year, PTI lawmakers, including Imran Khan, resigned from National Assembly, Sindh and Punjab assemblies to press government to form a judicial commission on alleged rigging in 2013 elections.
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