Members of the opposition and treasury benches in the National Assembly agreed on Thursday that they would not use insulting remarks against each other in the House and instead would focus their energies on public issues.
Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaisar informed the House that he had talked to both opposition and treasury members about smooth conduct of the proceedings. "Both sides have reached an understanding that they will not insult any leader," he said.
The speaker said that both the sides - opposition and treasury benches - have also agreed to criticise each other in the House in a "civilised manner" and would focus on challenges being faced by the masses.
Leader of Opposition Shehbaz Sharif welcomed the development, saying the opposition would take two steps forward if the ruling coalition spoke in a positive manner in the House.
Minister for Defence Pervaiz Khattak said the government is ready to sit with the opposition and come up with solutions of public problems, while admitting that verbal assaults by members on each other were polluting the assembly's environment.
"The institution of Parliament on which billions of rupees are spent is somehow losing dignity in the eyes of the people," he said. PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said the Prime Minister should have come in the House so that he could respond to his tweets on Exit Control List (ECL) face to face.
Talking about the 18th Constitutional Amendment, he said that provinces cannot compromise on their economic rights. He was confident that the Parliament will complete its tenure but in the meanwhile if democracy is attacked, the PPP will not compromise on it.
PPP leader Khursheed Shah criticised Prime Minister Imran Khan for not attending the National Assembly session and running the Parliament through tweets. He urged the Premier to attend the session so that issues related to economy could be debated in the House.
Shah pointed out that the government could not bring any significant legislation in the House in the last five months, adding that sugarcane prices are down to the detriment of the farmer while situation is also not good in other sectors of the economy.
PML-N lawmaker Khawaja Saad Rafique, who was in the House on a production order issued by the Speaker, urged his fellow legislators to shift their focus. He pleaded the government members to focus on improving education facilities, alleviation of poverty and generation of employment instead of picking up fights with the opposition.
He said calling names would lead the treasury benches nowhere and it is responsibility of the government to achieve something meaningful for the people.
Responding to the points raised by opposition legislators, State Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan said the main opposition parties have their legacy and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was the leader of PPP while Nawaz Sharif led PMLN. However, PTI also made its name by going through tough times and by offering sacrifices.
He said it is a fact that Pakistan was created by a politician Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and hoped that the country would be taken forward by the politicians. He said every politician has to be accountable and the process of accountability should move forward.
He assured the opposition members that Prime Minister Imran Khan will attend the National Assembly session. Earlier, Speaker Asad Qaiser read out the statement pertaining to the suspension of lawmakers' membership of the House. He added that the suspended lawmakers could not take part in the business of the House as well as standing committees.
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