ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly (NA) session was suspended on Tuesday after the opposition took issue with the deputy speaker’s decision not to hold a re-vote when an opposition member put up a bill pertaining to an increase in Islamabad High Court (IHC) judges.
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) MNA Aliya Kamran had moved a bill demanding an increase in the number of IHC judges from six to ten and a quota for all provinces on the IHC bench.
This bill was opposed by Parliamentary Secretary for Law Maleeka Bokhari, however, Deputy Speaker Qasim Khan Suri held a verbal vote and dismissed the bill after it appeared that the bill was voted against.
When Kamran challenged the vote, the speaker ordered a head count. It revealed that 96 MNAs were against the bill but 94 were in favour of it. The bill was then decided against.
However, the opposition was not to be pacified and members gathered around the deputy speaker’s rostrum, demanding a re-vote. He denied the request and suspended the proceedings of the House.
Earlier, a motion was moved by Munawar Bibi to further amend the Prohibition of Smoking and Protection of Non-Smokers’ Health Ordinance 2002 which was amended in 2019. The motion was rejected by the House.
Whereas, the motion moved by Sajida Begum to further amend the Microfinance Institutions Ordinance 2001 [The Microfinance Institutions (Amendment) Bill 2019 was referred to concerned committee.
An hour later, the deputy speaker returned to the House and announced that the leaders of parliamentary parties during a meeting decided that the bill pertaining to Islamabad High Court should be referred to the concerned committee.
The session was adjourned until 11 am on Wednesday.