NA session deferred without debating French envoy’s expulsion

  • The resolution on the issue of the French envoy’s expulsion from Pakistan was tabled in the assembly earlier this week.
  • NA Speaker Asad Qaiser had sought names from parliamentary leaders of all parties having representation in the NA for inclusion in the proposed special committee of the house to take up the issue.
Updated 23 Apr, 2021

The National Assembly (NA) session was indefinitely deferred on Friday after the opposition parties created rumpus in the house.

The NA held its session today to deliberate the matter of French ambassador's expulsion. On April 19, the resolution on the issue of French envoy’s expulsion from Pakistan was tabled in the assembly in line with the agreement between the government and banned Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP).

The resolution strongly condemns the publication of blasphemous caricatures by the French magazine Charlie Hebdo last year. It also regrets the French President Emmanuel Macron encouraging the elements hurting the sentiments of hundreds of millions of Muslims in the name of freedom of expression.

On Thursday, NA Speaker Asad Qaiser had sought names from parliamentary leaders of all parties having representation in the NA for inclusion in the proposed special committee of the house to take up the resolution on the issue of French envoy.

However, once the session began on Friday, lawmakers from Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Jamiat Ulema Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) asked that they be allowed to speak on the point of contention.

However, they gathered near the speaker’s podium and raised slogans after being refused. The NA then prorogued the session.

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