Leader of Opposition in National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday lashed out at National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser for not letting opposition leaders speak during the joint session of the parliament.
A joint sitting of parliament, earlier in the day, passed amendments in three bills crucial to the fulfilment of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) requirements. The opposition staged a walkout in protest after most of their proposed amendments to the bills were rejected and they were not allowed to speak.
“Asad Qaiser did not allow a debate to take place on our proposed amendments [to the bills],” said Shehbaz, flanked by PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and other opposition parliamentarians. He said that ‘genuine’ amendments to the bills were not entertained, adding that he would register a strong protest against the speaker of the National Assembly for not letting him speak.
“I event went to where the speaker sits with his staff and requested him to let me speak. Neither did he respond to me nor did he allow me to speak, which I think is a very unparliamentary attitude,” he said.
The former Punjab chief minister said it was a ‘black day’ in the history of the parliament owing to the way the opposition was treated, adding that the opposition will decide mutually on what action to take against the speaker.
