Wednesday, 3 February 2021

Bill for open ballot in Senate elections presented in parliament amid noisy session

National Assembly
A bill to bring the 26th amendment to the Constitution, to pave the way for open balloting in Senate elections, was presented on Wednesday amid a noisy National Assembly session.

The members of parliament belonging to the Opposition benches protested loudly, preventing Minister for Law Farogh Naseem from reading out the contents of the bill. Speaker Asad Qaiser, consequently, called for a recess.

Amid the ruckus, PML-N Secretary-General Ahsan Iqbal accused the speaker of being biased and not letting the Opposition speak. He said a speaker is not supposed to favour any party.

"It seems the Opposition has been labelled pariahs in the parliament," he remarked.

Iqbal also accused the National Accountability Bureau of gunning for "revenge" against the Opposition, saying prominent members are all in jail.

The Opposition's loud protests gained momentum during Minister for Communications and Postal Services Murad Saeed's address.

Saeed, referring to the PML-N, said: "Their leader is sitting in London and poisoning people's ears against the state."

Referring to the ongoing protest by Steel Mills workers as the asset is set to be privatised, said that had it been performing well then "their foreign minister would not have offered PIA along with Steel Mills for free".




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