ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly today (Tuesday) witnessed a noisy clash after lawmakers belonging to the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) came to blows with Opposition MNAs during Shahbaz Sharif’s speech.
As soon as Shehbaz Sharif started speaking, the PML-N President was greeted by loud jeers, slogans and whistles from the treasury members. PML-N lawmakers and other Opposition members formed a protective circle around him. The jeering and slogans got louder as Sharif took aim at the government.
Speaker Asad Qaiser kept interjecting, requesting lawmakers on the treasury benches to refrain from shouting while the leader of the Opposition spoke. However, no one listened and the Opposition leader continued, wearing headphones to drown out the noise.
Meanwhile, Special Assistant to Prime Minister Ali Nawaz Awan can be seen in a video clip, responding in kind to abusive language by a PML-N lawmaker. A woman lawmaker tried to pull the PTI MNA away from the group of legislators who were shoving each other.
He can be seen in the video, throwing a booklet at the PML-N leader and shouting angrily at him. Another minister, Ali Amin Gandapur can be seen in another video clip exchanging words with Opposition lawmakers.
During the speech, the PML-N president lashed out at the government over ‘anti-people’ budget. He criticised the government’s budget, saying that it had failed to provide relief to the masses amid spiralling unemployment and inflation.
“Imran Khan Niazi promised 10 million jobs. Where are those jobs?” he asked, adding, “Where are the $300bn that was supposed to be brought back to the country from abroad?”
“Pakistan is suffering from the worst form of corruption today,” he said, adding, “No act of posting or transferring someone these days is done without an element of corruption these days.”
