Daily Times

Former special assistant to chief minister and prime minister Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan was denied entry to the Punjab Assembly as she was stopped at the gate by the security staff deputed there.

Firdous had to face severe humiliation when she was told by the security staff that her name is not on the list of guests. Awan had reached there to participate in the oath-taking of newly elected MPA from her constituency Ahsan Saleem Baryar, but couldn’t make it past the gate.

Firdous played an important role in the election campaign of Baryar and was therefore invited by him in his oath-taking. However, she couldn’t enter as she was told that her name was not included in the final list, even though her name was there in the initial list of guests.

Later, talking to media outside the Punjab Assembly, Firdous tried to downplay the episode. “I was earlier allowed to go inside in the capacity of special assistant to chief minister. I am no more SACM or MPA and it is the prerogative of speaker Punjab Assembly to allow anyone to go inside,” she said while speaking to journalists.

When asked who is responsible for this episode, Firdous said she will look into it later as to who dropped her name from the said list.

“I was already late and Baryar has taken his oath also, so there is no need to go inside now,” she added. She was of the view that PML-Q and PTI are allies, and the speaker is the custodian of this House; therefore, it is his prerogative to deny entry to anyone.

“I have always called for strengthening the political alliance of PTI and PML-Q,” she said, adding: “No minister knew about my visit today as I reached here as a guest only.”

According to the former SACM, Ch Pervaiz Elahi has a greater vision and he will not insult anyone by denying entry here. “It is petty thinking that I was denied entry today. Parliamentary traditions don’t allow it and Pervaiz Elahi cannot do it,” Firdous said. She further added that Prime Minister Imran Khan will decide about her future and she played her role well in both the centre and Punjab. The episode provided the opportunity to the MPAs of the opposition to further embarrass her over the humiliation she faced. “Firdaus Ashiq should also check whether her next election ticket is intact or not because her bad days have already started,” said PML-N’s MPA Azma Bukhari.

“I would take her inside Punjab Assembly if I had known that she will face such treatment,” Azma added. Earlier, the session of the Punjab Assembly was adjourned in just a few minutes due to the lack of quorum. Only the oath-taking of newly elected MPA Ahsan Saleem Baryar could be held. As he took his oath, PML-N’s Khalil Tahir Sandhu pointed out the quorum that the government failed to meet. There were only 17 members at the time of counting. Speaker Elahi adjourned the House to meet again on Friday after a break of three days.