ISLAMABAD: Despite the Peshawar High Court (PHC)’s directives not to take oath on reserved seats, the National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq on Friday administered oath to the lawmakers elected on reserved seats under the pretext of not getting any intimation neither from court nor the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
Sadiq said that the house did not receive any notice or order from ECP regarding the oath-taking of MNAs on reserved seats if the court had stayed the oath-taking of the members. This angered the PTI lawmakers who strongly protested over what they said the NA speaker “openly flouted” the PHC’s orders which stayed the oath-taking of the members elected on reserved seats on a plea filed by the party.
The PTI-backed Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) members said that administering oath to the four members elected on reserved seats is contempt of court which the speaker is doing despite knowing that the matter is sub-judice.
Shahid Khattak, a member of PTI-backed SIC pointed out the quorum in the house, prompting the speaker to direct a headcount of assembly members.
Despite the protest, the four newly elected members on reserved seats proceeded to take their oaths, administered by Speaker Sadiq. However, the opposition MPs voiced their disapproval by standing on their seats.
A few days ago, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had rejected the allocation of reserved seats to members of the PTI-backed SIC and allocated those seats to other parties mainly the PML-N and PPP.
Speaking on a point of order, Omar Ayub, who is set to become the opposition leader in the National Assembly, said that the NA speaker committed contempt of court by administering oath to the members. He said that the lawmakers who took oath today on reserved seats committed “contempt of court” and their swearing-in should be declared “void”.
“I demand the oath taken today should be declared null and void as it has no legal standing,” he said, adding that the opposition would continue to protest until SIC members on reserved seats took oath.
He also took up the issue of barring the PTI lawmakers’ meeting with jailed party founding chairman Imran Khan in Adiala jail by the jail superintendent Asad Warraich, saying the official in question behaves as if he is above the law, which is not acceptable. Another PTI lawmaker Barrister Gohar Ali Khan said that the way the speaker administered oath to the members, flouting the court orders, is a contempt of court.
Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Usman Awan clarified that the PHC’s order pertaining to the stay on oath-taking of MNAs on reserved seats applied to eight lawmakers from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
However, the AGP stated that none of the MNAs sworn in were from KP.
Meanwhile, Sehar Kamran of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), moved a resolution presented in the house in connection with International Women’s Day, which earned the ire of PTI lawmakers, who termed it eyewash given what the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM)-led coalition government did with PTI women.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
Comments
Comments are closed.