NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OR FISH MARKET?

The tragic scenes of abuse during the Leader of the Opposition’s speech on the budget on the second day in the National Assembly on Tuesday did not send a good message to the world about Pakistan’s Parliament. Opposition leaders were unable to speak on Monday due to the commotion. The manner in which the protest was held the next day to prevent them from speaking is not worthy of the parliament of a civilized society. The issue was not limited to a war of words but escalated into a scuffle. The job of the opposition is to criticize the government’s actions, but this time the ministers and government members of the assembly also took part in the commotion and the justification was made that since the opposition does not allow the Leader of the House Imran Khan to speak here. The Leader of the Opposition will get the same answer. The House became a fish market, with members throwing budget books at each other and using non-parliamentary language. Apart from making repeated appeals to restore order, the Speaker had to adjourn the meeting three times for short intervals. Sergeant at Arms also failed to control the disorder. A female member was thrown by someone injured by the book, some esteemed elected representatives of the people continued to violate the sanctity of the House by blowing whistles. The Speaker has banned seven members of the government and the opposition from entering the National Assembly following an inquiry into the incident. It is to be expected that this will result in future responsibility on the part of both the government and the opposition and adherence to the code of conduct. In particular, the government benches have to exercise more restraint as they have the primary responsibility for running the House successfully.

Thanks for reading!