ISLAMABAD: The Speaker of National Assembly Asad Qaiser was left with no option but to adjourn the house after PPP lawmaker Naveed Qamar along with all opposition members walked out of the house, saying "in these circumstances when the country is going through a 'political turmoil', they could not become part of the house proceedings".
Speaking on the floor of house before staging a walkout, he said that 'we cannot become the part of the proceedings as we are not permitted to carry out debate on issues confronting the country'.
Following the opposition's walkout, NA Speaker Asad Qaiser said it is the collective responsibility of the treasury and opposition benches to respect the decorum of the house.
He said he always provided equal opportunities to both treasury and opposition members to express their views, adding that the way NA held threadbare discussion on the budget and other issues is part of the history.
"We all should respect the sanctity of the house," he added.
Speaking in National Assembly after the opposition boycotted the session, advisor to the prime minister on parliamentary affairs Babar Awan said that proceedings of the house couldn't be conducted without following the rules and regulations.
"The sanctity of the custodian of the house has been violated by opposition the other day," he added. He said that papers were thrown on the desk of deputy speaker during the session and whistles were blown and slogans were chanted in contrary to the rules.
He said that now the opposition has also boycotted the meeting of the house business advisory committee and other important meetings. Meanwhile, MNA Sheikh Fayazuddin, soon after the question-hour session, pointed out the quorum in the house. However, the NA speaker did not ask for counting the members' and immediately adjourned the proceedings till Monday at 5pm.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020
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