PTI, PML-N members scuffle in National Assembly

A scuffle broke out in the National Assembly on Thursday between members of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz after heated exchange of sloganeering between members of both the parties. Speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq has to call in security staff to control the rumpus, but even then the verbal tirade continued between members of the opposition and treasury benches.
The Speaker was left with no option but to suspend proceedings of the House for 15 minutes. Members of the PTI and PPP did not show up in the House after the interval while members of Jamaat-e-Islami and Muttahida Qaumi Movement later walked out of the Lower House in a protest against the incident.
During address of PTI's leader Shah Mehmood in the House, PTI lawmakers started to chant vociferous slogans against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, which infuriated the ruling party members. Federal Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Shahid Khaqan Abbasi approached the opposition benches and apparently said something harsh to Shah Mehmood Qureshi which later resulted into scuffle between members of the both parties.
The joint opposition in the National Assembly, including PTI and PPP, had submitted a privilege motion against the Prime Minister over, what they called, a difference of his stance in the House and by his lawyer in the Supreme Court about money trail of the Sharif family's assets abroad.
The Speaker, however, did not admit the privilege motion in the House and said he was reexamining it and may also seek legal opinion on it. Speaking on a point of order on the issue, PTI leader Shah Mahmood Qureshi said the stance of the Prime Minister's lawyer in the Supreme Court on Panamagate case was totally different than what the Prime Minister has said on the floor of the House earlier.
"This seems to be a deliberate attempt to change the stance on part of the Prime Minister and this is tantamount to befooling the public and breaching privilege of the this august House," he said. Qureshi said the ruling family is not presenting evidences in the Supreme Court to corroborate their case instead new evidences are being manufactured to support the case.
He urged the Prime Minister to come in the House to clear his position about his earlier speech on the Panama Papers. "If the Prime Minister still stands by his earlier stance which he presented in the House, we would be happy to withdraw our privilege motion", he said.
Speaking on the same issue, Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Shah said the Prime Minister's contradictory stances in the House and the Supreme Court have breached the privilege of the House.
He said the Parliament is mother of all institutions and it is incumbent on the Prime Minister and its other members to speak truth on the floor. "We are losing credibility of the Parliament...the Prime Minister's contradictory statements in the National Assembly and the Supreme Court are a clear breach of this House," he added.
Responding to all these points, Minister for Water and Power Khawaja Asif came down hard on Qureshi and Jamaat-e-Islami chief Senator Siraj-ul-Haq, saying they are making a mountain out of a molehill.
He said the Prime Minister has not breached the privilege of the House; rather, the PTI's attitude towards public institutions and their past attacks on Pakistan Television and the Parliament breached the sanctity of the Parliament.
Asif said the Prime Minister has presented himself and his whole family for accountability and now it is the turn of PTI leaders and others for the accountability.
"Panama isn't an issue of the public...the government is doing its best to resolve genuine issues of the masses," he said and added, "The 2018 general election results will reflect the will and choice of the people."
Minister for Railways Saad Rafique said the Prime Minister is Sadiq (truthful) and Ameen (trustworthy) and he didn't lie on the floor of the House. "Imran Khan's cronies have become a threat to democracy," he said.
MQM member Iqbal Muhammad Ali condemned the scuffle between members of treasury and opposition benches, terming it an insult of the august House. Jamat-e-Islami's Tariqullah also condemned the incident and walked out of the house.