Daily Times

A National Assembly (NA) session was adjourned indefinitely on Tuesday after Opposition Leader Omar Ayub Khan’s remarks on last night’s swift legislation were expunged from the record.

Shortly after the session began, Ayub, representing the PTI-led opposition, criticized the steamrolling of six bills a day ago, calling it a “shameful incident” and branding the ruling coalition a “government of thieves”.

Deputy Speaker Mir Ghulam Mustafa Shah promptly intervened, ordering the remarks removed from the record.

The government had passed crucial legislation pertaining to the higher judiciary and the tenure of the services chiefs through both houses of the parliament on Monday, despite vociferous protest by the PTI-led opposition.

Following Ayub’s remarks, the livestream on the NA’s YouTube channel then went blank, before being removed from the platform altogether. The livestream on PTV Parliament’s YouTube channel also stopped showing the session as soon as Ayub began his speech. The NA livestream then resumed at 11:48am, before the session was adjourned indefinitely.

Shah said NA Speaker Ayaz Sadiq had yesterday spoken of giving the floor to PTI Chairman Gohar Khan but the proceedings had to be held amid noisy protests.

The deputy speaker then ordered that Ayub’s mic be turned on, but the livestream was again cut off as soon as the PTI MNA started speaking.

The livestream then resumed when independent MNA Aurangzeb Khan Khichi, one of the PTI-backed lawmakers to vote in favour of the 26th Amendment, was given a chance to speak.