Punjab Assembly: 100 PML-N MPAs submit resignations

At least 100 provincial lawmakers of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) on Thursday submitted their resignations from standing committees of the Punjab Assembly to register their protest against non-acceptance of their demands.

According to sources, the PML-N lawmakers submitted their resignations to the secretariat of the provincial house for not appointing Opposition Leader in the Punjab Assembly Hamza Shehbaz as chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and not issuing production orders for jailed party leaders, including Khawaja Saad Rafique.

As many as 97 members of the standing committees out of 100 had on Wednesday submitted their resignations to the party leadership.

“It is a black day in the history of the Punjab Assembly when over a hundred members have tendered their resignations from the standing committees,” PML-N leader Malik Nadeem Kamran said.

He trained guns at the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) for not issuing Hamza Shehbaz’s production orders and said that the government had backtracked on its promise of appointing Hamza as the PAC chairman.

“Now, the standing committees will not have any political or moral status for legislation and circumstances called for such extreme measures.”

A day earlier, an accountability court in Lahore extended Hamza’s judicial remand till November 28 in the assets beyond means case.

During the hearing, Presiding Judge Amjad Nazeer expressed resentment at the PML-N leader for not maintaining the decorum of the court and instructed him to come to the rostrum and stay quiet.

Hamza also exchanged harsh words with the judge and explained that the people interacting with him had come to the court on their own. “Next time, you will come straight to the rostrum,” the judge directed Hamza.

The defence counsel sought exemption from personal appearance for Shehbaz Sharif, saying he had to appear before the federal cabinet in Islamabad.