Daily Times

The Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) has decided to record its protest during the Punjab Assembly session over the raid of NAB conducted at its President Shehbaz Sharif’s residence in Model Town the other day. The Parliamentary Advisory Group (PAG) of PML-N in Punjab Assembly held a meeting on Thursday with former Speaker Rana Muhammad Iqbal in the chair to devise the strategy against the government for the upcoming budget session. The Parliamentary Advisory Group represents senior lawmakers of PML-N that devises the strategy of the party in Punjab Assembly. It was decided on Thursday by the PAG to give tough time to the government during the budget session that will commence on Friday (today) at a local hotel in Lahore.

As per the details, a resolution was passed in the meeting of PML-N while condemning the raid conducted by NAB at the residence of Shehbaz Sharif. “The NAB made a fabricated case against Shehbaz Sharif at the behest of the government. We condemn the NAB for targeting the opposition leader in National Assembly,” said the resolution passed by the PML-N. It was also decided in the meeting that PML-N will raise the issue of shortage of petrol and flour in the province. Moreover, the party also decided to raise the issue of locust attack in the Punjab that has damaged the crops of farmers in the province. The performance of government to curb the COVID-19 is a huge question mark as it has created havoc in the province due to the poor strategy of the rulers, said the PML-N Advisory Group. The PML-N said that the NAB is doing raids at the residence of Shehbaz Sharif on the behest of Prime Minister Imran Khan and the party will resist it.

“Yes, it is our democratic right to record our protest in the assembly,” said PML-N MPA Samiullah Khan, who is also a member of Parliamentary Advisory Group of the party. He told Daily Times that it is not suitable to protest on the roads due to the situation of COVID-19 but we’ll record our protest in the Punjab Assembly during the budget session. He further added that the parliamentary party of PML-N is unable to get guidance from its leader in the Punjab Assembly Hamza Shehbaz who is also the opposition leader because he is in jail facing NAB cases. “We face a communication gap with our parliamentary leader because he is in jail and only comes to Punjab Assembly during the sessions on Production Orders,” said MPA Samiullah Khan. We don’t have any conversation with him when there is no assembly session, he added. He was of the view that PML-N has requested the government time and again to allow some senior MPAs of the party to have meeting with Hamza Shehbaz in jail to get guidance from him related to the affairs of Punjab Assembly as he is the parliamentary leader of the party while also holding the important portfolio of the Opposition Leader.

The Speaker has convened the Punjab Assembly session to be started from today at a local hotel in Lahore just adjacent to the assembly secretariat to ensure the social distancing between the MPAs. The existing assembly chambers are insufficient to accommodate 371 MPAs with the protocols of social distancing due to lack of enough sitting capacity.