ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has refused to attend the National Assembly (NA) session even if his production orders are issued.
Abbasi penned a letter to Upper House Speaker Asad Qaiser wherein he recalled that it has been a month since he last sent him a letter reminding him of his obligation to issue production orders for parliamentarians incarcerated in corruption cases.
“I regret that I have not received a response to my letter,” he wrote. Abbasi, who has been in NAB custody since July 18, said production orders were neither issued for the joint parliamentary address by the president nor for the latest session of the National Assembly.
“Your inability to facilitate members of the National Assembly to discharge their constitutional duties is a violation of the basic principles of democracy and the traditions of Parliament,” he said.
Abbasi said the speaker cannot be a party to the “arbitrary and discriminate denial of access to the House”.
“The production orders must be issued to protect the sovereignty of the House, however, in order to protect the dignity of the office of the speaker from pressures exerted by the government, I will voluntarily not attend the proceedings of the House after the production orders are issued,” he said.