Sexist remarks ruled National Assembly proceedings on Thursday, when the leader of the opposition, Khursheed Shah made a tasteless comment about his female counterparts.
According to reports, Speaker Ayaz Sadiq asked women lawmakers to be silent or go outside and continue their conversation during house proceedings. To this Leader of the Opposition Khursheed Shah responded: “Do not ask these women to stop talking, Speaker, they will fall ill if they don’t talk continuously.”
PPP leader Khursheed Shah was addressing the house when this happened. Assembly sessions are often interrupted by protests or walk outs by lawmakers. The speaker of the Assembly’s job is to take care of the discipline of the house in these situations.
PPP MNA Nafisa Shah said she would stage a protest as the speaker was only silencing women even when the men were also talking.
The speaker silenced her again, by saying, “You cannot challenge the chair.”