LAHORE: National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq on Thursday said that enemies of the country wanted to create rifts between state institutions, which would prove to be dangerous.
Talking to media persons in Lahore, the speaker said that there would always be conspirators but their conspiracies would be foiled by the people of Pakistan.
In response to a question, the speaker pointed out that no one had criticised either the judiciary or the armed forces, adding that it was the people’s duty to respect the two venerable institutions.
He emphasised that the need of the hour was that every institution remained within the scope of its own jurisdiction.
In response to another question, the speaker said that former prime minister Nawaz Sharif would return to Pakistan as soon as his wife’s condition improved.
He also said that members of parliament could not be arrested from the precincts of the Assembly without the speaker’s approval, and if an elected representative was arrested from somewhere else, the speaker had to be informed.
He said that democracy would be strengthened if the elected representatives of the people were respected. He said that as the speaker, it was his duty to remain neutral and drew attention to the fact that he did not accept the resignations of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) MNAs for 40 days.
