LAHORE: At least 21 women and three members of minority communities were sworn in as members of the Punjab Assembly (MPA) on Friday in reserved seats as the provincial assembly session was marred by ruckus caused by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). -backed Sunni Ittehad Council lawmakers.
Punjab Assembly Speaker Malik Ahmad Khan administered the oath to the newly appointed legislators on the reserved seats.
The swearing-in ceremony was held amid noise and chaos in the provincial legislature with members of the opposition chanting slogans all the while as the lawmakers were sworn in.
“These seats were our right that were taken away from us and given to other parties,” the opposition said as they stood in front of lecterns and chanted slogans.
Since the February 8 general elections, PTI-backed SIC members have been demanding their right to reserved seats in the National and Punjab Assemblies, claiming that their mandate was stolen after elections in the province and other parts of the country. .
A day earlier, SIC chairman Hamid Raza had urged the Lahore High Court (LHC) to demand the party’s right to reserved NA seats, saying the electoral body was neither a tribunal nor a court.
The plea further demanded that the SIC get reserved seats according to the ratio of seats in the Punjab Assembly.
However, the LHC registry raised objections against their proposal regarding the jurisdiction of the court to hear the case.
PTI-backed MNA Omer Ayub Khan said the lawmakers who took oath at reserved seats today have committed “contempt of court” and their oath should be declared “void”.
Speaking on the floor of the lower house of parliament, he said that PTI leaders were not allowed to meet jailed party chief Imran Khan by the Superintendent of Adiala Jail.
“We should be told whether the prison warden is answerable to the court or the government,” Ayub demanded.
“Today, on behalf of all my opposition members, I request that the oath taken today be declared null and void as it has no legal legitimacy,” he said, adding that the opposition would continue to protest until the SIC members take the oath at the reserved seats.
