Pandemonium raged throughout the National Assembly budget session on Friday, with lawmakers from both government and opposition exchanging verbal spars and protesting loudly. The disruption caused several halts in the proceedings, finally forcing the NA Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri to adjourn the session until Monday, Dawn News reported.
The session started when former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf got up to address the NA. However, he was unable to continue his speech due to ruckus created by the PTI MNAs.
The disruption caused the first of many adjournments of the session, when NA speaker Asad Qaiser ordered a halt to the proceedings for ten minutes. ‘However, the chaos persisted even after the proceedings resumed, forcing Qaiser to adjourn the session till after Friday prayers,” the report read.
After the session resumed, Suri, as per NA rules, asked Leader of the Opposition Shehbaz Sharif to speak but Sharif maintained that lawmakers from JUI-F, who were demanding to speak first be allowed to address the house before him.
This request was opposed by PTI minister Fawad Chaudhry and other MNAs. Suri told Shehbaz that he should be the first to speak "unless he wants to forgo his turn". This back and forth between the opposition leader and the deputy speaker continued for some while.
Amid the reigning chaos, Shehbaz finally took the floor and began his speech by criticising the PTI government's economic policies. Under this government the dollar has reached "to the skies" and its "propaganda machinery" can't conceal the administration's "worst performance", he raged.
The former chief minister's speech had barely began, when the session was again stopped due to loud protests from PTI lawmakers. With the situation having reached an impasse, Deputy Speaker Suri announced the adjournment of the session until 4pm on Monday.
Earlier, when the point of order for the session was announced, PPP protested against the non-issuance of former president Asif Ali Zardari's production orders, who was arrested by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Monday.
The session started when former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf got up to address the NA. However, he was unable to continue his speech due to ruckus created by the PTI MNAs.
The disruption caused the first of many adjournments of the session, when NA speaker Asad Qaiser ordered a halt to the proceedings for ten minutes. ‘However, the chaos persisted even after the proceedings resumed, forcing Qaiser to adjourn the session till after Friday prayers,” the report read.
After the session resumed, Suri, as per NA rules, asked Leader of the Opposition Shehbaz Sharif to speak but Sharif maintained that lawmakers from JUI-F, who were demanding to speak first be allowed to address the house before him.
This request was opposed by PTI minister Fawad Chaudhry and other MNAs. Suri told Shehbaz that he should be the first to speak "unless he wants to forgo his turn". This back and forth between the opposition leader and the deputy speaker continued for some while.
Amid the reigning chaos, Shehbaz finally took the floor and began his speech by criticising the PTI government's economic policies. Under this government the dollar has reached "to the skies" and its "propaganda machinery" can't conceal the administration's "worst performance", he raged.
The former chief minister's speech had barely began, when the session was again stopped due to loud protests from PTI lawmakers. With the situation having reached an impasse, Deputy Speaker Suri announced the adjournment of the session until 4pm on Monday.
Earlier, when the point of order for the session was announced, PPP protested against the non-issuance of former president Asif Ali Zardari's production orders, who was arrested by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Monday.