Daily Times

Punjab Assembly Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan’s important step towards improving parliamentary ethics.

A crucial meeting of the Committee on Ethics was held on Saturday to promote mutual respect and effective governance between the opposition and government benches.

Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan presided over the meeting participated by 11 members of the opposition and government benches. In the meeting, the committee unanimously recommended the reinstatement of 11 suspended PA members of the opposition and the assembly secretariat issued a notification for the reinstatement of the 11 suspended members on the recommendation of the committee.

The Committee on Ethics will be made part of the Rules and Regulations as a Standing Committee of the House. This committee will play an important role in monitoring the conduct of the members on an impartial and transparent basis. The committee also agreed to protect the parliamentary rights of Leader of the House and the Leader of the Opposition besides maintaining parliamentary norms and ensuring the zero-tolerance policy against any member’s ridicule and defamation in the proceedings of the assembly session. The committee also decided that no member would be allowed to use abusive, indecent words and abuse during the proceedings of the assembly. The committee strongly condemned such incidents in the past and assured the protection of the Speaker’s respect and dignity.