- The protesting senators are demanding withdrawal of the proposal.
- The Senate President prevented senators from speaking on the issue.
- The Senate session was adjourned due to lack of quorum.
ISLAMABAD: Senators from Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN), Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) strongly opposed the Senate resolution rejecting the Supreme Court verdict on military courts. news,
The protesting senators on Tuesday demanded withdrawal of the proposal.
A motion was moved in the House the day before, in the presence of about a dozen MPs, and adopted at the end of the private members’ day.
Only one PML-N senator was able to speak, while others, including Mian Raza Rabbani and Mushtaq Ahmed, could not reach the House due to lack of quorum.
Other senators who were part of the protest included National Party’s Tahir Bizenjo and PPP’s Taj Haider. The Leader of the House and the Leader of the Opposition were not seen in the sparsely attended House meeting.
As soon as the House resumed, PML-N Senator Saadia Abbasi lodged a strong protest, prompting the Deputy Speaker to allow her to speak.
“Yesterday a resolution was passed in the House in the presence of only 11-12 members, ignoring the rules. This process was done in a hurry. We neither support it nor does it strengthen democracy in the country.
The PML-N MLA was of the view that the Supreme Court’s decision was in the interest of the people, pointing out that the top court had twice quashed military courts. Abbasi said, this house was used to adopt a resolution rejecting democracy.
Senator Abbasi also wondered why the resolution was passed so quickly when majority members were not present and why it was not put on the agenda again. He strongly condemned the proposal and demanded its withdrawal from the members.
While Abbasi was speaking, some other senators also stood up and wanted to express their opinions. Senator Mushtaq also came forward, stood right in front of the Chairman’s dais and requested to give him and other members an opportunity to speak for a few minutes.
Senator Rabbani also kept speaking without being given the platform. However, Aasan appeared adamant on ending the first question hour and two calling attention notices.
Meanwhile, PTI’s Saifullah Abro drew the Speaker’s attention to the quorum.
Counting was done and there was lack of quorum in the House, due to which the Chairman had to suspend the proceedings. Another count was taken after the bells were rung but there were barely 16 MLAs in the House, which was adjourned to meet again on Friday morning.
