Daily Times

National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser said that it was the right of the opposition to bring a no-confidence motion against him and the Deputy Speaker, adding that he did not see any minister creating a fuss that day.

Qaiser has barred seven lawmakers from entering the National Assembly until further orders for creating a ruckus in Tuesday’s session. These MNAs include Ali Nawaz Awan, Abdul Majeed, Faheem Khan, Sheikh Rohail Asghar, Ali Gohar Khan, Chaudhry Hamid Hameed and Agha Rafiullah.

Addressing a press conference at the Parliament House, the speaker said that the incidents that took place in the National Assembly were unfortunate.

He said that these incidents are not a good omen for democracy and that sessions in the Assembly must be held according to the rules as everyone has the right to disagree.

Efforts should be made to bring the opposition and the government to the table and the parties should take care of the sanctity of Parliament, said Qaiser.

He said that it was up to the people to decide whether the budget was good or bad and stated that he only had moral power but no authority to throw anyone out.

“It is my responsibility to give equal opportunity to the government and the opposition in the House and I do give equal opportunity to both to speak in the House,” he added. “Yesterday I met Prime Minister Imran Khan, after which I also talked to Shahbaz Sharif and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. I am still in touch with the opposition leaders. I want everyone to run the house together with the rules.”

The Speaker of the National Assembly said that his resignation is the wish of the opposition, while the House has given him the authority to run the House, therefore he will continue to do so as per his mandate.

The Opposition had decided to jointly move a no-confidence motion against National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser, sources said Wednesday, after two days of ruckus in the Lower House.

“The Speaker has failed to fulfil his constitutional, legal, democratic, and parliamentary responsibilities […] he is the protector of every parliament member, but [he has failed in his duties] and is not qualified to hold office anymore,” they said.

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