Pakistan NA Speaker bans 7 lawmakers from House till ‘further orders’

ISLAMABAD: A day after the

Opposition

and

treasury

benches clashed — verbally and physically — during the post-budget address of

Leader of Opposition

Shahbaz Sharif, Pakistan’s National Assembly (NA) Speaker on Wednesday barred seven

lawmakers

, four from the opposition and three from the governing Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), from entering the House.

In a Twitter post, Speaker Asad Qaiser said that members who disrupted the session during Sharif's speech have been barred from entering the House as their behaviour was “unparliamentary” and “inappropriate”.

The legislators who have been stopped from entering the House are Ali Gohar Khan, Chaudhary Hamid Hameed, Sheikh Rohale Asghar (all

PML-N

), Faheem Khan, Abdul Majeed Khan, Ali Nawaz Awan (all PTI) and Syed Agha Rafiullah (PPP).

A separate statement issued by the NA secretariat said that the ban on the lawmakers would last until further orders. “The NA Secretariat has issued instructions to the MNAs concerned and to the assembly security,” it said.

On Tuesday, the NA turned into a battleground as the Opposition and treasury members scuffled with each other and threw budget documents and books to disrupt Shahbaz’s budget speech for a second consecutive day.

Qaiser suspended the proceedings of the House three times when the treasury members, led by some of the senior ministers who had come directly to the House after attending the weekly cabinet meeting, refused to pay heed to his directives to stay calm. They kept on sloganeering, whistling and desk-thumping.

Maleeha Bokhari, a parliamentary secretary for law, was also hit by a flying object and injured in the eye. She later received first aid at the

Parliament House

dispensary. Besides Bokhari, some MNAs also complained that they had received bruises during the scuffle.