NA speaker orders Shehbaz’s presence in assembly session

The Speaker of the National Assembly (NA), Asad Qaiser, has passed orders for detained Opposition Leader Shehbaz Sharif to be produced in the National Assembly on October 17 to attend the legislative body’s session.

Letters have been written to the Punjab chief secretary, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman, and other officials concerned.

The letters have been received by the departments concerned.

Sharif is likely to be flown to Islamabad from Lahore on Tuesday evening to attend the proceedings at 11am on Wednesday.

Well-placed parliamentary sources have revealed that Asad Qaiser had turned down a request of his predecessor Sardar Ayaz Sadiq to facilitate Shehbaz’s participation in a meeting of parliamentary group of opposition members at the Parliament House, scheduled for tomorrow.

The speaker had contended that his jurisdiction was limited to Shehbaz’s production in the assembly session.

It has been learnt that a formal letter expressing the speaker’s refusal to accept this demand will be dispatched to Sadiq today.

The sources pointed out that

the National Assembly will remain in session for three or more days, although it is the speaker’s prerogative to prorogue the session.

The sources also said no formal information had been given to the Speaker’s Secretariat by the government about Prime Minister Imran Khan’s participation in the upcoming session.

Members of the Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) and Sharif will speak on the occasion, where the latter will give an account of the circumstances in which he was arrested by the NAB.

Five members of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) and seven other groups, including independents, have indicated that they would participate in the discussion.