Daily Times

LAHORE: Punjab Assembly (PA) Speaker Rana Iqbal Monday starting hearing the disqualification reference filed against the chief minister.

Rana Arshad, chief whip of the treasury party-the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) – confirmed Daily Times that the CM’s legal team along with the ruling members would also appear before the speaker within couple of days.

Though the speaker has assured opposition members that he will take decision on the matter as per the law after hearing both the parties, Opposition Leader in the House Mian Mehmoodur Rasheed and his colleagues have expressed worries that the reference will be rejected by speaker, “who could not go against the chief minister”.

On Monday morning, the opposition leader along with his party members and a team of legal experts headed by Dr Babar Awan approached the assembly but the security disallowed non-legislators to enter into the premises prompting opposition members to chant slogans against the ruling PML-N at the main entrance gate.

Later, the opposition leader along with his party members met the Speaker at the PA’s Committee Room and presented their arguments. Sources told Daily Times that only Babar Awan spoke in the meeting and all his colleagues kept mum.

At the end of the meeting, Babar Awan along with the opposition leader and other legislators held a press conference outside the assembly building and gave the speaker deadline of Feb 19 to take decision in this regard.

He said that PTI would start protest as well as also knock the door of the court if the speaker would not take decision in the matter. He confirmed that the speaker was constitutionally bound to send any reference to the Election Commission of Pakistan within next 30 days after of its submission otherwise it would consider to be referred to the election commission.

Talking to media persons, Babar Awan said that following the decision of the apex court in the case of “relocation of sugar mills of Sharif family in banned areas”, a disqualification reference against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif could also be filed as his name is also mentioned in the case.

To a question, Babar said CM Shahbaz Sharif had been proved untruthful and untrustworthy, “as he had preferred his personal and family interests to the national interests by relocating sugar mills in banned areas”.

Giving details, he said, “We have provided documents of an English court’s decision in London flats case and the Panama case verdict against Shahbaz Sharif as defendant to the speaker. He said that his party would not step back from its stance to apply Article 62 and Article 63 of the constitution against the chief minister.