Punjab Assembly Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan on Friday suspended membership of 11 MPAs from the PTI-Sunni Ittehad Council alliance over ‘ruckus’ during speech of Chief Minister (CM) Maryam Nawaz, a private television reported.
According to a notification, the suspended MPAs include Zulfiqar Ali, Shabbaz Ahmed, Muhammad Arif, Tayab Ahmed, Hafiz Farhat, Sheikh Imdad, Tayab Rashid, Ejaz Shafi, Rana Umar Zaib, Shoaib Amir, Usama Asghar Ali, and Asad Abbas.
The move comes after the opposition protested during the Chief Minsiter Maryam Nawaz’s speech on the floor of Punjab Assembly, leading to a heated exchange between the two sides. PA Speaker Malik Ahmad Khan also revoked the official vehicles and staff allocated to the opposition leader Malik Ahmed Khan – a move which he claimed was the first in the parliamentary history of Pakistan. Moreover, the speaker also barred entry of Deputy Opposition Leader in the Punjab Assembly Moeen Riaz Qureshi.
The orders were broadcasted to security officials by wireless. Speaking on the PA floor, CM Maryam Nawaz said that the extensive work accomplished by the provincial government in its first 100 days cannot be encapsulated in a single speech. The CM assured that the opposition would be defeated through the government’s performance. She highlighted that this budget has introduced zero new taxes on the people of Punjab, continuing, “No new taxes have been introduced.” Despite the opposition’s noise, she argued, it is because they have nothing substantial to say. “We will defeat the opposition with our performance.”
