The op
position and government engaged in a verbal spat again as Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Khawaja Asif on Friday warned that the op
position would not let Prime Mi
nister Imran Khan enter pa
rliament if the government restrains National Assembly Op
position Leader Shehbaz Sharif from attending the sessions.
Asif was referring to tweets by the Prime Mi
nister’s Special Assistant on Political Affairs, Naeemul Haque, who had warned Leader of the Op
position Shahbaz Sharif against targeting Prime Mi
nister Imran Khan with ‘personal’ attacks while threa
tening that the PML-N leader would “spend more time in jail sulking” if his production orders were to be revoked.
Haque’s threat had come after the National Assembly erupted in general pandemonium on Wednesday, with insults and taunts thrown freely across the aisle soon after the prime mi
nister arrived for the session. The prime mi
nister, who had last been seen in the assembly on Oct 3, had entered the house at the time when Sharif was lambasting the federal and the Punjab governments over the handling of the Sahiwal incident.
Speaking to the media outside the pa
rliament, Asif said that they wanted pa
rliament to continue its job.
“Governments come and go, but the pa
rliament should continue functioning. If this is the environment they want to create in pa
rliament, we are also ready for it. However, it is the government that will be held solely responsible for this, he warned.
“If the language they want to use is reflected in these tweets […] they do not even respect the Speaker’s office, nor the pa
rliament. These same people used to use foul language against the pa
rliament in the past and curse it […] but if they plan to carry on the same behaviour now that they are in the government, it [the pa
rliament] won’t go on [much further].”
But though the veteran lawmaker was clear about the op
position not tolerating non-pa
rliamentary language, there was no mention or regret for the unbecoming remarks uttered by the op
position leader against Punjab Chief Mi
nister Usman Buzdar on Wednesday.
The op
position leader had said that “the chief mi
nister cannot even respond to nature’s call without the prime mi
nister’s permission.”
He had also hit a nerve with the treasury benches by calling the premier “the selected prime mi
nister”.
Minutes after Asif wrapped up his media talk, Mi
nister for Informatio
n Fawad Chaudhry responding to the PML-N, saying: “I don’t understand the op
position’s behaviour in the National Assembly. On one hand, they say that the prime mi
nister does not come to the assembly; but once he does, it seems like the assembly turns into a bazaar.”
He added, “Personal insults are hurled by the op
position, and then they say it is the government that does not respect pa
rliament. The op
position needs to respect the prime mi
nister first.”
“He is being investigated currently and there are Rangers, police and ambulances outside for him. This is the sort of protocol even mi
nisters don’t even dream of,” Fawad observed, turning the spotlight on the PML-N president’s ongoing legal troubles.
While talking to the media, former prime mi
nister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said that Naeemul Haque had threatened the op
position in his tweet.
“We have submitted our complaint to the Speaker in the chamber who has promised to address the matter,” Khaqan Abbasi added.
Published in Daily Times, January 26th 2019.