Ayaz Sadiq speaks with Altaf regarding withdrawing de-seating motion

ISLAMABAD: National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq contacted Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain on Wednesday on telephone over withdrawing his party’s de-seating motion against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawmakers.

After the talk which lasted around 10 minutes, the MQM chief asked for time for consultations with his party members to come to a decision.

During their conversation, Ayaz Sadiq said that withdrawing the motion would create a positive atmosphere of reconciliation, to which Altaf replied that MQM has always upheld talk of rule of law and constitution.

However, the move today comes after the ruling PML-N had adopted a completely negative stance so far against the hate speech by the MQM chief.

The JUI-F and the MQM had submitted two similar motions seeking to disqualify the PTI legislators over their absence from Parliament for 40 consecutive days during their party's protest sit-in last year.

During Wednesday’s National Assembly session, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif called on the MQM and JUI-F to withdraw their de-seating motions, emphasising that they would not be supported by the government.

Opposition Leader Syed Khursheed Shah welcomed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s decision to not support the motions and urged the MQM and JUI-F to welcome PTI in Parliament.

PTI lawmakers have announced that they will not attend parliamentary proceedings until a final decision is taken on the de-seating motions.