ISLAMABAD: Speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq Thursday reiterated that being custodian of the house, he would continue to remain impartial and abide by the law and Constitution.
Responding to points raised by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) parliamentary leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi, he clarified that all members of this august house were equal to him adding he respected them all.
Ayaz Sadiq said like other elected representatives, he was also elected by the people of Pakistan. When de-seated, the Speaker said, “I opted to approach the people’s court rather than knocking doors of any court of law and again remained successful.”
He said he was criticized for not accepting resignations tendered by PTI lawmakers during the sit-ins.
He appreciated the leader of the opposition for supporting him in that regard besides playing pivotal role for strengthening of democracy in the country.
Ayaz Sadiq said due to giving more time to the opposition benches during budget session, he was said to be tilting towards opposition parties. He said he was also severely criticized from the shipping container, but he made efforts to uphold the sanctity of the parliament.
However, he regretted for hurling and desecrating copy of the Constitution by the PTI members on Wednesday (yesterday).
Earlier, speaking on point of order, Shah Mehmood Qureshi said he was expecting that the Speaker would give the PTI members an opportunity to present their viewpoint on the privilege motion.
“Had we were given opportunity to present our viewpoint, such ugly situation would not have emerged yesterday,” Qureshi said.
He said he was expecting, being a custodian of the House, that the Speaker would support the opposition benches but they were not given a chance.
Qureshi alleged that their voices were suppressed yesterday.
He regretted that PTI elected members were dubbed as hooligans at floor of the House.
He demanded the treasury benches to apologize for uttering such un-parliamentary language, besides clarifying the statement given on floor of the house regarding Panama Papers issue.
