ISLAMABAD: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Khawaja Saad Rafique will attend Thursday’s National Assembly (NA) session after the speaker on Wednesday night issued their production orders.
The matter of production orders of the detained leaders has been the bone of contention between the government and the opposition and had contributed to ruckus in the House during the past few sessions. PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif and PPP Chairman Bilawal-Bhutto Zardari had repeatedly raised the issue in the House, saying that it was the right of the elected representatives to be present during the session to present their opinion on the federal budget.
Earlier, PPP on Wednesday urged the NA speaker to issue Zardari’s production order. During a protest at Minister’s Enclave, Senator Sherry Rehman had said that PPP had requested NA Speaker Asad Qaiser to issue production order of Asif Zardari.
She alleged that constant pressure was put on the NA speaker who should play his role impartially. She also expressed the hope that the production order would be issued this evening.
On this occasion, Syed Nayyer Hussain Bukhari said that the government should issue production order of the four NA members, including Zardari.
He said that it was the constitutional right of every member to participate in the budget session, adding that if production order would not be issued, the opposition would decide its own strategy.
Former deputy speaker Faisal Karim Kundi, Amir Fida Paracha, Senator Rubina Khalid and other leaders of PPP took part in the protest.