Khawaja Asif lauds NA speaker's role in protecting sanctity of parliament

• PTI inflicted damage upon institutions, says defence minister.
• Asif blames Qaiser, PTI for parliament's bitter environment. 
  
• PTI founder Imran Khan had dictator's mentality, he says.

ISLAMABAD: Throwing his weight behind National Assembly (NA) Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq for playing a crucial role during a critical political situation, Federal Minister for Defence Khawaja Asif has said Sadiq is playing a key role in the crisis arising after the arrests of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawmakers from the premises of the Parliament House.

Asif, taking to X — formerly Twitter — on Wednesday, said if only former NA speaker Asad Qaiser had similarly protected the sanctity of the house and the democratic rights of the members, then perhaps the supremacy of the parliament would not have been compromised like this.

The minister's statement comes after the NA speaker took action against the September 8 arrests of PTI members from the premises of the lower house and constituted a committee to address the issues related to the smooth functioning of the parliament.

“Atmosphere of the House would not have been so bitter, if Asad Qaiser had issued the production order of the jailed [assembly] members like Ayaz Sadiq did,” he said, adding even dictators would not have inflicted as much damage upon the constitutional institutes as much happened during the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) tenure.

The defence minister said the former prime minister possessed a dictator's mentality. The Constitution and institution held no respect before him, instead they were bound by his wishes, he said.

Asif, a day earlier, termed the arrival of masked persons and the entry of the police into the Parliament House shameful and "a violation of the sanctity of the House".

Speaking on the floor of the lower house on Wednesday about the issuance of production orders, he said: “I have no objection if the speaker issues the production order of the arrested MNAs.”

18-member NA committee

NA Speaker Sadiq on Wednesday constituted an 18-member special committee, in the aftermath of the arrests of the PTI lawmakers from within the Parliament House.

The committee will discuss, analyse and firm up recommendations concerning the issues related to parliament, parliamentarians, Constitution, Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the National Assembly, 2007 and smooth functioning of parliament, The News reported.

According to a circular issued by the National Assembly Secretariat, the committee will include federal ministers Senator Muhammad Ishaq Dar, Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, Chaudhry Salik Hussain, Abdul Aleem Khan, Syed Khurshid Ahmad Shah and Syed Naveed Qamar, Syed Aminul Haq, Muhammad Ejazul Haq, Khalid Hussain Magsi, Sahibzada Muhammad Hamid Raza, Gohar Ali Khan, Shahida Begum, Muhammad Akhtar Mengal, Hameed Hussain and Mahmood Khan Achakzai.

The NA Secretariat circular read, "In pursuance of motion adopted by the National Assembly on 11th September 2024, under Rule 244(B) of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the National Assembly, 2007, the honourable speaker, National Assembly has been pleased to constitute a special committee."

It is pertinent to mention here that the resolution, tabled by Federal Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, had called for the constitution of a parliamentary committee comprising MNAs from both treasury and opposition benches to discuss, analyse and propose recommendations regarding issues related to parliament and its smooth functioning.

The speaker had also suspended the House's Sergeant at Arms and four other security officials for the security lapse which saw lawmakers being allegedly arrested by the Islamabad police and masked men from within the NA's premises.

Two wrongs do not make a right

Speaker Ayaz Sadiq, speaking during the NA session on Wednesday, recalled PTI founder Imran Khan's premiership and lamented the denial of production orders by then-speaker Asad Qaiser regarding the opposition's lawmakers of the time.

The PTI government didn't issue production orders for our members during its tenure, Sadiq said.

However, he maintained that "two wrongs did not make a right" and remarked: "I do not agree with your [PTI] government's actions. Not issuing production orders was not the right thing to do then [and] it is not the right thing to do now".

"I will do what is appropriate, what is required and what is necessary for [upholding] the parliament's respect," he added.

The speaker further said that he would try to get to the bottom of what happened.

A committee shall be constituted so that the work commences from the same day, Sadiq had remarked while inviting PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar to meet him after the assembly's session is adjourned.