Speaker stops issuance of production orders for Zardari

In an unusual move, Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaiser on Monday stopped issuance of production orders for Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari from attending the meeting of a parliamentary panel slated to take place on July 10 and 11.
The sources privy to the development told Business Recorder that the NA speaker stopped issuance of production orders for Zardari, after getting a legal opinion from the Ministry of Law and Justice. They said that PML-N leader Khawaja Saad Rafique, who is also in custody of National Accountability Bureau (NAB), will also not be issued any production order. Both Zardari and Rafique will now be barred from attending any meeting of the standing committees as well as the National Assembly session.
Despite protests by opposition parties, the NA speaker had already refused to issue production orders for two tribal MNAs Mohsin Dawar and Ali Wazir who are in jail after they were booked in an attack on Army check post in North Waziristan in May.
Zardari was supposed to attend a meeting of standing committee on water resources, scheduled to take place on July 10 and 11, for which chairman Standing Committee on Water Resources Yousuf Talpur had signed the issuance of production order to Zardari.
The sources said that after getting legal opinion from the Law Ministry, the Speaker Office stopped the concerned officials from issuing Zardari's and Khawaja Saad Rafique's production orders. Political activities of both PPP and PML-N leaders were given as a reason from suspending their production orders, they added. Relevant authorities wrote a note on the summary of production orders that both Zardari and Khawaja exercise politics in the House.
The chairman standing committee protested against the National Assembly Secretariat and asserted that he is authorised to issue production orders according to the rules.
On June 19, the production orders for former President Asif Zardari and PML-N leader Khawaja Saad Rafique were issued. Both the leaders were arrested by NAB in separate graft cases. Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaiser had issued production orders for Zardari and Khawaja Saad who are currently under NAB's custody.
Earlier, members of the opposition and government coalition parties signed a petition for the issuance of Zardari's production order.
Talking to journalists, Zardari said that Bilawal along with Maryam Nawaz will handle the government in future as current government is left with just six more months.
While responding to a question, he said that Prime Minister Imran Khan's government is left with four to six month now as they will topple his government and make a civilian government. Zardari said that at present, a civilian martial law has been imposed in the country as halting production orders is against parliamentary norms. "Sometimes things go wrong in the politics, I accept even I might have made a mistake as well," he added.