Mr Ayaz Sadiq’s speakership has been described as biased by the opposition over his alleged partial handling of references seeking disqualification of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan. The speaker’s office had received eight references, out of which, four were filed against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, two against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan, one against Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) chief Mehmood Achakzai and one against PTI leader Jahangir Tareen. In his ruling, the Speaker rejected all four references against the PM and forwarded two references against the PTI chief for consideration to the Election Commission of Pakistan. In response to the Speaker’s decision, major Opposition parties observed a token walk out alleging that the Speaker was not performing his duties impartially. A leader of the PTI Shafqat Mehmood passed scathing remarks about the role of the Speaker. He accused him of being partisan in making a judgment about the references. Mr. Sadiq, in his reply, said that he made a decision on the basis of documentary evidence attached with the references. Being the Speaker of the National Assembly, it is surely a very difficult exercise for the custodian of the house to keep all members on board. He has to be impartial while conducting the proceedings of the august house. If a decision goes against any Member of Parliament, it becomes controversial. It is necessary for the opposition members that they should not take such issues personally. The PTI chief and the Opposition leader need to plead their cases at proper platform and challenge the ruling of the Speaker with some solid evidence. Launching a tirade of personal attacks is not a solution to the problem. The opposition parties need to stick to the parliamentary norms and accept the Speaker’s decision. It is also mandatory for the Speaker to make a decision based on merit without any political considerations. One has to be careful while dealing with the treasury and opposition benches on the floor of the house. The PTI chief has termed the role of the Speaker suspicious and threatened to continue street protests till the acceptance of their demands regarding a fair trial of those who are accused of having offshore accounts. Non-acceptance of the Speaker’s ruling also shows the existing flaws in the parliamentary system of Pakistan. There is a lack of maturity in the political class. It has become a general phenomenon that instead of relying on reasoning and wisdom, politicians take it personally and indulge in the blame game. Political maturity is the need of the hour both for the government and opposition members. Parliament has great prestige and its business should not be dictated at the whims of individuals. All decisions need to be taken on merit in and outside the Parliament. Both the treasury and opposition leaders can take a stand by presenting credible evidence in support of their claims.*