Independent National Assembly (NA) lawmaker, Mohsin Dawar, on Monday, accused Speaker Asad Qaiser of ordering his removal from the NA Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs to place him on the lesser known committee on House and Library.
The Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) leader was replaced by a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MNA from Charsadda, Fazal Muhammad Khan, according to the NA Media Director, Muhammad Mohsin Iqbal while no reason was given to explain this development. Dawar, who has had a troubled relationship with security agencies, alleged in a tweet on Monday that NA Speaker had bowed to vested interests in the Pakistani state.
According to information available from media sources, Dawar said that he learned about the matter after arriving at the assembly on Monday where he brought the matter to SPeaker Qaiser’s attention. While he said he had no prior knowledge of the removal, the PTM leader was not satisfied with his response and would raise the matter with opposition lawmakers.
Previously, Dawar along with fellow NA member and PTM leader, Ali Wazir, was forcibly prevented from travelling to Dubai, where they were scheduled to participate in a cultural event. They were told that their names had been placed on the Exit Control List (ECL) with reference to a case registered against them in Swabi. Even though they managed to get their names eventually struck off the no-fly list, they were again barred from travelling to attend the funeral of Professor Arman Loni in Loralai, Balochistan in February.
Last year, Dawar was also not allowed to enter North Waziristan for three months before the Peshawar High Court ultimately set aside that ban.
Published in Daily Times, February 26th 2019.
