Tag: NA

  • ‘NA speaker has right to disqualify any PTI MNA who will vote for other party’: Sheikh Rasheed

    ‘NA speaker has right to disqualify any PTI MNA who will vote for other party’: Sheikh Rasheed

    Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed on Thursday said National Assembly (NA) Speaker Asad Qaiser has the right to disqualify any Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Members of National Assembly (MNA) who “crossed floor” (to vote against your party) in the lower house and that “no one can challenge that”.

    According to the federal minister, all political parties gave this right to the Speaker in the 18th Amendment in an effort to stop horse-trading.

    “Let them [Opposition] fulfil their desire. Imran Khan is on his way towards winning. The Speaker has the right to disqualify any ruling party MNA who disrespects the votes they got due to IK,” he said.

    Talking to the media, the minister said the no-confidence move would be a “moment of satisfaction” for the premier. He also termed the week from March 23 to 30 as important.

    In a tweet, Rasheed urged PTI supporters to be present at Islamabad’s D-Chowk on the day of the vote to celebrate a “day of thanksgiving” for the PM’s success.

    Speaking on ARY News, Supreme Court lawyer Faisal Hussain gave a detailed analysis on the no-confidence motion and the government’s options.

    After submission of the no-confidence motion against PM Imran Khan, the government has come up with a strategy of not showing up on the D-Day. Asad Umar said that it is the Opposition’s job to show that they have the support of 172 MNAs and therefore government lawmakers would not attend the no-confidence vote.

    Talking to 92 News, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said the Speaker will not count the votes of PTI members who vote against the PM.

    https://twitter.com/FawadPTIUpdates/status/1501629055359143944
  • President Alvi calls off NA session without any official announcement

    President Alvi calls off NA session without any official announcement

    President Dr Arif Alvi called off the National Assembly (NA) session on Friday— the same day when Leader of the Opposition Shehbaz Sharif was to appear before a special court in Lahore, reports Dawn.

    A spokesperson for the Presi­dency said that the postponement of the session was not officially notified beforehand. According to the media outlet, Pak­istan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leaders gathered at NA Speaker Asad Qaiser’s residence several hours before the session on Thursday night and decided to have Friday’s session shelved.

    They believed that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif and his son Hamza Shehbaz could possibly be arrested on Friday but the court deferred the indictment. The ruling party was of the view that the Sharifs should not be given an opportunity to seek an adjournment on the ground of attending the NA session.

    Upon hearing about the postponement, Sharif said the session had been put off as the government was hoping he would be indicted. He further added that it is unprecedented that a scheduled session of the NA has been shelved in such a manner.

    However, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry dismissed this claim. Chaudhry said that Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s visit to Russia on February 23 was one of the reasons for the postponement of the session.

    Other than this, some sources claim that the government wanted to promulgate some ordinances for which the session had been shelved.

    Sharif appeared before the court for his indictment in a money laundering case that was registered by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).

    As of yet, no new date has been announced for holding the postponed session of the lower house of parliament.

  • VIDEO: Firdous Ashiq Awan lashes out at crowd

    VIDEO: Firdous Ashiq Awan lashes out at crowd

    Former Assistant to Chief Minister (CM) Punjab, Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan, addressed a rally in Rasoolpur, Sialkot, when people started chanting slogans against her and expressed their complaints and reservations, reported Geo News.

    At first, the former aide tried to calm the crowd but eventually, things got out of hand.

    In response to the crowd’s slogans, Firdous said: “If you people had employed similar efforts [during the elections] as you are doing now, I would have still been part of the assembly.”

    In response, people said that they had voted for her.

    She argued that there is some conspiracy against her. She said, “I will work for my constituency, as no one else will.”

    Rasoolpur is Awan’s constituency, from where she lost her National Assembly (NA) seat on Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) ticket to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) Chaudhry Armaghan Subhani.

    Earlier in May, Awan humiliated Assistant Commissioner (AC) Sialkot Sonia Sadaf during a visit to Ramzan Bazaar in Sialkot.

    In June, Awan made headlines when she slapped Pakistan People’s Party’s (PPP) MNA Qadir Khan Mandokhel. The incident took place off-air after the two were seen brawling with each other on Express News‘ talk show, ‘Kal Tak with Javed Chaudhry’.

  • Ministry of Information to form joint committee for media authority bill

    Ministry of Information to form joint committee for media authority bill

    The Ministry of Information has decided to form a joint committee after consultations with representatives of all media institutions and organisations.

    The committee will review the proposed media regulation and make recommendations. The Pakistan Media Development Authority (PMDA) has apparently been postponed for the time being.

    Journalists staged a protest in front of the Parliament House against the proposed PMDA, which aims to muzzle media freedom. The protest started on Sunday, September 12. Journalists marched from the National Press Club to the Parliament House and stayed overnight.

    As journalists continued with sit-in outside of the Parliament House against the government’s proposed PMDA, prominent leaders from political parties, student unions, and members of the civil society also joined in to show solidarity.

    In a first in Pakistan’s history, reporters were not allowed to enter a joint session of Parliament on Monday, September 13.

    Parliamentary reporters were to be present in the press gallery for President Alvi’s address but entered the hallway to find that the door was locked. The press gallery was closed for the journalists.

    The Parliamentary Reporters Association (PRA) strongly condemned the closure of the press gallery and said, “Closing the gallery is the worst dictatorship.”

    However, National Assembly (NA) Speaker Asad Qaiser said that he closed the doors of the press gallery during the president’s speech to a joint session of parliament after getting ‘reports’ that there was a possibility of a ruckus between two journalists’ groups.

    The Speaker claimed that he made this decision after consulting the PRA.

    “I couldn’t afford a fight between two groups in Parliament which could have resulted in the disrespect of media and the House,” Qaiser said adding, “however, there was some misunderstanding.”

  • Seven lawmakers banned from entering National Assembly

    Seven lawmakers banned from entering National Assembly

    National Assembly (NA) Speaker Asad Qaiser has banned the entry of seven lawmakers into the Parliament House over the use of foul language during the budget speech of Opposition Leader Shehbaz Sharif.

    The order released by Asad Qaiser stated that, on June 14 and 15, 2021 during the speech of Shehbaz on Budget 2021-22, “the conduct of seven lawmakers was grossly disorderly as they violated the rules despite repeated direction of the Chair, they interrupted proceedings of the House.”

    The seven lawmakers are Ali Gohar Khan Baloch (PML-N), Chaudhry Hamid Hameed (PML-N), Sheikh Rohale Asghar (PML-N), Faheem Khan (PTI), Abdul Majeed Khan (PTI), Ali Nawaz Awan (PTI), and Syed Agha Rafiullah (PPP).

    “These members are required not to enter into the precincts of the Parliament House till further orders,” said the notification.

    Asad Qaiser also said that the “non-parliamentary attitude adopted by members from the government and the Opposition benches and objectionable language used by them is condemnable and disappointing”.