LAHORE – Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Saturday challenged the suspension of one of its lawmakers in the Lahore High Court (LHC).
PTI MPA Imtiaz Mahmood Sheikh moved a petition to the court through Advocate Azhar Siddique and submitted that Sheikh had pointed out a lack of quorum during the passage of four bills in the Punjab Assembly session. He further submitted that the Speaker misused Assembly Rules 4 and 5, suspending the petitioner’s membership for 15 sessions.
The petitioner asked the court to declare the speaker’s decision null and void and order restoration of the petitioner’s assembly membership.
Earlier, Punjab Assembly Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan constituted an eight-member government negotiation committee to initiate dialogue with the opposition over the matter of suspended lawmakers.
The sources said that the committee comprises Rana Arshad, Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Mujtaba Shuja-ur-Rehman, Provincial Minister Khawaja Salman Rafique, Samiullah Khan and Ahmad Iqbal.
Additionally, representatives from coalition partners were also included—Ali Haider Gillani from the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Chaudhry Shafay Hussain from the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q), and Shoaib Siddiqui from the Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP).
The opposition also finalized its committee later, which would hold talks with the government side regarding the suspension of opposition lawmakers.
The efforts were underway for talks between government and the opposition, and meanwhile, many lawmakers from the oppositions were sentenced to 10 years in jail for their role in May 9 riots.
