Punjab Assembly Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmed Khan on Saturday announced the formation of an ethics committee to address the “deterioration of decorum” witnessed in the house in recent days.
“The [assembly] has been deteriorating day by day, the cause of which is the people inside it,” he said. “In these times, when [lawmakers] completely fall from ethical standards, when foul language is used, how will conduct be maintained in the house?”
The PA speaker’s remarks come a day after 11 opposition members were barred from attending the next 15 sittings of the house for resorting to “rowdyism” during the speech of Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz.
Speaking to the media, the PA speaker recounted how he had witnessed a deterioration in the conduct within the assembly of late. He stated that what was at first disruption in the form of sloganeering had now turned into “unfiltered abuses and obscenities”.
Announcing the formation of the ethics committee, Malik said it would overview the conduct of lawmakers from the day the assembly convened and ascertain how it was a “democratic obstruction”.
“I’m not saying that this house cannot be political, but you cannot take things to the point where you make politics about abusing and obscenities,” the speaker added.
A little after noon, opposition MPAs staged a protest at the entrance of the assembly against the speaker’s orders to bar them from the upcoming proceedings.
The opposition lawmakers forced their way inside while chanting anti-government slogans. Some also called for the release of incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan.
Talking to reporters, opposition leader Ahmad Khan Bhachar said he “will not bow” before the Punjab government, adding that the suspension of the 11 lawmakers was “unjust”.
