LAHORE:
The president of the Punjab Assembly, Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan, apparently put the issue of PTI disqualifications to rest on Saturday by deciding the requests for disqualification against 26 legislators suspended as not maintainable, but passing the money to the judicial and electoral court.
The litigation sword still hangs on suspended legislators, with the speaker making it clear that, although their doors were not closed, the petitioners must first touch the correct ones, ensuring a statement from a competent jurisdiction court before visiting their office again.
In a movement seen as a political decalcalation, the speaker has dismissed the requests filed against 26 suspended opposition legislators, after a successful round of conversations between the treasury banks and the opposition.
A six -page decision signed by the speaker describes the justification to reject the four separate requests, which sought to disqualify the MPA affiliated with the PTI on their disorderly and abusive behavior during the budget session.
The measure to rule out the requests gained impulse after recent negotiations behind the government and opposition leaders paid off.
According to the sources, the restoration of the suspended MPA is now expected soon.
It is noteworthy that President Khan had previously suspended the 26 PTI legislators under rule 210 (3) of the Rules of Procedure of the Provincial Assembly of Punjab, 1997, after his interruption of the discourse of Prime Minister Maryam Nawaz on June 27.
In its detailed ruling, President Khan said: “Although serious legal and constitutional violations, including the constitutional oath, have been alleged by the applicants, these violations must first be established in a court or court of the competent jurisdiction before being able to decide whether a question of qualification has arisen in terms 63 (2) of the Constitution and refer the question to the question of the election of the election of the election.
“People are the source of all power, and through their vote, they confer trust, not to get rid of without the most serious reasons. Disqualifying a representative is not simply to silence a voice, it is depriving people. Because a chosen house is not just a chamber of laws; it is the echo of the will of the people. That voice should not whistle,” he added.
The speaker ruled that the references to past cases, such as the documents of Panama and another jurisprudence of disqualification under articles 199 and 184 (3) of the Constitution, were not valid in the current context.
Such requests, he said, could undermine freedom of expression in the house and cancel the presence of the opposition. Article 19 protects the solid debate, even if it is abrasive, subject to reasonable legal restrictions.
“These restrictions are found in our rules, not in threats of permanent disqualification. That the well -being of people is the supreme law, the assembly must continue to be a forum where the dissent is expressed, does not extinguish,” said the ruling.
President Khan emphasized that the welfare of the electorate is best preserved when the Chamber handles the internal disorder itself, without the representatives chosen by the voters deprived of their rights.
He also expressed concern about the lack of familiarity of many members with the rules of the Assembly, the legislative processes and the effective use of the permanent committees.
He asked for specific training to maintain parliamentary supremacy and democratic responsibility.
“As chosen representatives, we must legally legislate, end political victimization and work together to defend the supremacy of the people’s assembly and protect our democracy. After all, the true guardians of democracy and the responsibility of maintaining the functioning of the Chamber are collectively collectively,” added the speaker.
He asked for a dialogue between parties reminiscent of the letter of democracy to guarantee the functions of the assembly effectively as a space for the public interest and the genuine debate.
Referring to political theory, Khan said: “Modern societies are based on dialogue; as Jürgen Habermas wrote:” The public sphere is that the scope of our social life in which you can form something that approaches public opinion, “underlining that free, inclusive and reasoned exchange within the parliamentarians of the parliamentarians, the future of the plate of the plate of the plate of the plate of the plate.
In a strong criticism of the constitutional clauses used historically to undermine democracy, President Khan declared: “As a speaker and political worker, I firmly oppose the objective of the chosen politicians.
He affirmed that the misuse of these articles undermines the constitutional right to the political association and the representation of article 17.
Disqualify the elected representatives about accusations or technicalities violates the presumption of innocence, deprive voters and erodes the legitimacy of Parliament.
“The disqualification of the chosen representatives has deep roots in the history of Pakistan. The first examples are the Law of Disqualification of Public Representatives of 1949, and the order of disqualification of the elective bodies (Ebdo) 1959. These ‘rear door tools’ have constantly served non -democratic elements,” said the speaker.
He criticized political parties to occasionally embed such practices, citing the “show of Panama’s show” as an example of judicial overreach that continues to affect the political landscape through anti -democratic means.
“This destructive chain must be broken,” said the Khan speaker. “The very fact that the Constitution has been exploited in this way means that such challenging questions can be and have been raised.”
He asked the Federal Parliament to eliminate such dictatorial remains of the Constitution to claim democratic values.
Concluding his comments, President Khan said: “During my term as a speaker, I will work to defend the parliamentary government and the principles of representative constitutional democracy, as provided by the founding parents of our great Islamic Republic.”
