ISLAMABAD: The upper house of the Parliament on Friday failed to take up any business and left the entire agenda incomplete after former federal ruling party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) stirred a furore in Senate over the non-issuance of the production order of their colleague Azam Swati by Chairman Senate Sadiq Sanjrani who conspicuously skipped the session.
Instead, Deputy Chairman Senate Mirza Muhammad Afridi presided over the session that continued for a few minutes before it was adjourned till Monday due to a lack of quorum.
The Senate Secretariat had issued a 21-point agenda for Friday session, out of which, 20 items were related to house proceedings but not a single agenda item could be taken up.
The PTI senators, led by Leader of the Opposition in Senate Dr Shahzad Waseem, shouted slogans from the start of the Senate sitting. They tore apart the copies of the house’s business agenda and demanded that the production order of Swati be issued forthwith.
The opposition lambasted the absence of Sanjrani from the session.
The deputy chairman Senate tried to pacify the angry senators but failed to put the house in order.
The senators circled the dais of the chair and continued their protest.
PTI’s Ejaz Chaudhry informed the chair that Swati sent a message for the house.
“His message says: “It was better to shoot me than humiliate me the way I have been subjected to extreme humiliation,” according to Chaudhry.
Afnanullah Khan from Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) pointed the quorum which was found to be lacking. Afridi then adjourned the session till Monday.
Separately, the PTI senators, led by the opposition leader, submitted a written application in the Senate Secretariat demanding of the chairman Senate to issue production orders for Swati. They continued to protest outside the Senate hall at the Parliament House.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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