| During NA proceedings, BNP stages walkout over killing of activists | Mengal says
his party will not be part of cabinet | Deputy Speaker’s election tomorrow

ISLAMABAD   -  Senior member from the ruling party [PML-N] Khawaja Muhammad Asif in Monday’s National Assembly session said there was a need to seek fresh mandate from masses to avert a civil war-like scenario in the country.

“We have to move for seeking a fresh mandate from the people of the country,” said PML-N’s senior MNA Khawaja Muhammad Asif, taking part in a debate on a motion to pay gratitude to the President for address to the joint sitting of the Parliament.

The lawmakers from the treasury and the opposition strongly criticised the policies of PTI government, believing that toppling the government would help bring prosperity to the country.

Asif, on his turn, viewed that though the coalition partners would jointly take the decision but fresh polls could be better to avoid the danger of a civil war in the country. About series of protests in and outside the country, he said the virus of violence has also spread to the overseas Pakistanis. “Country is touching last limits of bankruptcy,” he said, mentioning that the cronies of Imran Khan had made not billions but trillions of rupees. He blamed that the PTI leader Imran Khan was instigating his workers to resort to violence and taking the country to a civil war by starting violence across the country. He linked his argument with the attack on the residence of senior journalist and anchorperson Hamid Mir. “Same kind of incidents can happen with other people also,” he feared and mentioned that there was a need to take notice of the situation by the coalition government lest the situation becomes irreversible.

PML-N senior MNA further said that Imran Khan had not accepted his ouster. “When you [Imran Khan] are sent packing, you say as to why courts are opened midnight,” he said, commenting on a PTI chairman’s repeated argument about opening the court in the midnight. He said that it had also happened in the past that courts were opened in the night. “A person who is fraud and brought to power kept there for nearly four years, played havoc with country’s economy,” he said.

Asif said that Imran Khan who claims that he was ‘Sadiq’ and ‘Ameen’ sold out purchased foreign gifts from ‘Toshakhana’ and sold out those in the market on much higher prices. Earlier, the MNAs from Balochistan National Party (BNP) staged a walkout from the House over alleged killing of their activists in district Chaghi. BNP-M MNA Agha Hassan Baloch alleged that Hameed Baloch and five other BNP men were killed and others injured in district Chaghi. “How can we continue with the Government when we are not being protected,” the BNP parliamentarian said. BNP-M chief Sardar Akhtar Mengal, talking to media outside the parliament, also remarked that they would not be part of the federal cabinet. About the walkout staged by the members from the BNP, the PML-N senior leader Khawaja Muhammad Asif asked the members from Balochistan to remain part of the coalition. “This is not correct to single out an institution for problems of Baloch people but there is a need to address causes of issues,” he said.

Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, in the middle of the proceedings, announced the schedule of Deputy Speaker’s elections. According to which the nominations could be submitted till 12 noon on Tuesday while elections would be conducted on Wednesday. Earlier, PPP leader Nafeesa Shah said that the PTI members have tendered resignations, stressing efforts should be made to bring them back to house. She emphasised the need for reducing political tension in the country in order to take matters towards improvement. She said a plan should be formulated to effectively deal with the economic issues.

PTI’s Noor Alam Khan said the people are faced with power outages during Sehr and Iftar time. He said requisite steps need to be taken to check the load shedding. The dissident PTI parliamentarian said he along with some other colleagues refused to tender resignations as they wanted to continue playing role in the House. He said that neither they voted against PTI nor they supported the new Government rather they would oppose the wrong decision taken by the government.