LAHORE:Punjab Assembly Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan in a press conference on Friday said that after the Supreme Court's decision not to recognise the parliamentary status of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), the position of the Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Assembly is vacant.
Malik Ahmad Khan stated that the members of SIC who had submitted names for the Leader of the Opposition have now joined PTI. He asserted that no one would be allowed to use abusive language in the assembly, as the effects of abuse and hatred spread far and wide. He further mentioned that in the past five months, seventy percent of the assembly's time was given to the opposition but if the opposition continues with the politics of abuse, it will not be tolerated.
He stated that the opposition requested a session but they did not attend the assembly; instead, they marked fake attendance for TA/DA. The nation has heard of a story ‘Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves’, but now it has witnessed Ali Baba and sixty thieves.
Malik Ahmad Khan said that an Ethics Committee has been constituted, the government has been contacted, and a message has been sent to the opposition. If the Leader of the House is neither allowed to speak, then the Leader of the Opposition will not be given the right to speak either.
The speaker clarified that the vehicles purchased for my office are for the Speaker's Office. These vehicles are required for high-level national and international dignitaries when they visit the Assembly. Other assemblies have luxury vehicles for their Speakers, but I have not bought luxury vehicles.
He also described Provincial Minister Azma Bukhari's fake video issue as unfortunate, stating that digital terrorism is being perpetrated through fake videos, which needs to be stopped urgently.