LAHORE:
The assembly of the president of Punjab, Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan, has declared inadmissible the requests submitted by the Treasury legislators who seek the disqualification of 26 MPa of Pakistan Tehreek-E-Insaf (PTI) suspended by abusive and violent behavior. Instead, he advised the petitioners to obtain a declaration of a court of competent jurisdiction before approaching the speaker.
President Khan made the decision under rule 210 (3) of the Rules of Procedure of the Provincial Assembly of Punjab, 1997. The 26 PTI legislators had been suspended after their interruption of the discourse of Prime Minister Maryam Nawaz on June 27.
In his detailed decision, the President declared: “Although the applicants have alleged serious legal and constitutional violations, including breach of the constitutional oath, the applicants, these violations must first be established in a court or court of the competent jurisdiction before being able to decide whether a matter of qualification has arisen in terms of article 63 (2) of the Constitution and reference of the question of the question of the question of the question of the election of the election of the election of the election of the election of the election of the election of the election of the election of the election of the election of the election of the election of the election of the election.
Read more: Punjab speaker moves to disqualify 26 MPa
In addition, he added: “People are the source of all power, and through their vote, they confer trust, not being without doing without the most serious reasons. Disqualifying a representative is not simply to silence a voice, but to deprive people. Because a chosen house is not only a chamber of laws; it is the echo of the will of the people. That voice should not be silenced.”
The speaker Khan rejected the trust imposed by applicants on precedents such as Panama and related jurisprudence under articles 199 and 184 (3), calling for such comparisons “not maintainable for constitutional and democratic reasons.”
He warned that entertaining such requests would erode freedom of expression within the house and effectively annulled the role of the opposition. Citing article 19, he emphasized that the solid, even abrasive debate is protected, “subject to reasonable restrictions imposed by law”, described in the rules of the Assembly, not for threats of permanent disqualification.
He said: “Let the welfare of the people be the supreme law. The Assembly must continue to be a forum where the dissent is expressed, it does not extinguish. The electorate is better served when the discipline house the disorder internally while preserving the chosen representation of the electorate.”
Highlighting the need for a better legislative performance, the speaker said that many members lack the rules of the Assembly, legislative procedures and the effective use of permanent committees. He emphasized the importance of specific training to ensure that the Assembly defends parliamentary supremacy and serves the public interest.
“As elected representatives, we must legally legislate, end political victimization and work together to defend the supremacy of the people’s assembly and protect our democracy,” he said.
Asking for the dialogue between parties in the spirit of the letter of democracy, he said: “Political parties are the true guardians of democracy. There should be a significant dialogue between all parties about the effective functioning of the Assembly to ensure that it serves the interests of the people and remains a forum for genuine debate and cooperation.”
Also read: Punjab speaker accepts to dismiss references against MPA of suspended PTI
President Khan strongly criticized certain constitutional provisions, particularly articles 62, 63 and article 58 (2) (b), labeling them as relics of authoritarian regimes.
“These provisions, imposed by dictators such as General Zia-Ul-Haq, have historically been armed to unfairly attack the chosen politicians. We must end this vicious circle. The case of Panama should not become another tool such as article 58 (2) (b), or we risk falling into a nihilistic cycle where we repeat the same mistakes,” he said.
He warned against disqualifications based on mere accusations or technicalities, which violate the presumption of innocence and erode parliamentary legitimacy.
Citing previous examples such as the Law of Disqualification of Offices of Public Representatives of 1949 and the Order of Disqualification of the Elective Bodies (EBDO) of 1959, said that such “rear door tools” have constantly served non -democratic elements, often with complicit political parties.
He described the case of Panama as an “exhibition judgment” and said that its use as a precedent undermines constitutional rights for the political association and the representation of article 17.
“This destructive chain must break,” he said. “The very fact that the Constitution has been exploited in this way means that such challenging questions can be, and have been cultivated.”
He concluded promising to defend the parliamentary government and the principles of representative democracy:
“During my mandate 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.”
