The Punjab Assembly (PA) session, which was scheduled to begin at 11:30am on Saturday to elect the new chief minister, has been delayed after chaos inside the legislature as Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and PML-N lawmakers came face to face.
Slogans were chanted by both the parties, while PTI members threw lotas at the opposition benches.
When Deputy Speaker Sardar Dost Muhammad Mazari, who was supposed to chair today’s session, entered the assembly, he was attacked by members of the treasury benches, who threw lotas at him and tried to circle him. Mazari was immediately shifted to his chamber by assembly guards.
To control the situation inside the house, Punjab SSP Operations along with a huge contingent of police officers reached the Punjab Assembly in civil clothes.
In a media talk outside the Punjab Assembly following the ruckus, PML-N leader Attaullah Tarar blamed Parvez Elahi and his “group of gangsters” for everything that happened inside the legislature.
“What happened today was a huge violation of the law and Constitution,” he said. “Today, the deputy speaker was attacked. This is an incident of terrorism. I have heard Chaudhry Parvez Elahi wants to get one or two people murdered.”
He added that Elahi had been encouraging the MPAs when they attacked the deputy speaker.
Tarar called on the Lahore High Court to take suo motu notice of the incident and initiate action against the culprits. “We are here and won’t move till midnight.”
