ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly on Thursday approved the suspension of PTI lawmaker Iqbal Afridi for the remainder of the budget session after Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq accused him of inappropriate conduct toward parliamentary staff, the DG Media, and police officials.
The Speaker instructed the Sergeant-at-Arms to escort Afridi out of the House, stating that the legislator had allegedly attempted to physically confront assembly staff and behaved disrespectfully with both media officials and security personnel.
A motion seeking Afridi’s suspension was presented by Farah Naz Akbar and passed through a majority vote.
Announcing the decision, the Speaker said Afridi would be barred from attending the ongoing budget session and would not receive any session-related allowances, including travel and daily allowances (TA/DA).
Sadiq asked the PTI member to leave voluntarily, warning that security officials would remove him if he refused. Afridi subsequently exited the chamber.
Earlier in the proceedings, Afridi repeatedly pointed out a lack of quorum shortly after the session began. The first count confirmed an incomplete quorum, forcing a temporary adjournment until enough members were present.
After the session resumed, Afridi again challenged the quorum, which this time was found complete. When he raised the issue once more, the Speaker dismissed the objection and remarked that quorum calls could not be made every half hour, emphasizing that parliamentary rules governed the process.
During the session, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar sought permission to speak, but the Speaker maintained his position, saying Afridi’s conduct could not be excused even if fellow PTI members came to his defence.
In separate legislative business, the House passed the Pakistan Telecommunication Re-Organisation (Amendment) Bill 2025, introduced by Federal IT Minister Shaza Fatima Khawaja.
The Assembly also approved an amendment proposed by Huma Akhtar Chughtai. The IT minister later clarified that the amendment revises the retirement age for judges serving on the appellate tribunal.
PPP leader Syed Naveed Qamar tabled three amendments concerning disputes over the right of way for laying 5G fibre-optic infrastructure. He suggested granting provincial governments and relevant authorities powers to resolve such disputes and proposed introducing a cap on fines imposed in these cases.
Speaking to reporters outside Parliament, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar criticised the forthcoming federal budget, claiming it would fail to provide relief to the public. He argued that inflation and utility costs were already placing a heavy burden on citizens and alleged that the government would present a budget based on unrealistic figures.
Gohar also announced that PTI’s parliamentary party would meet at 2pm to finalise its strategy, stressing that maintaining quorum was the government’s responsibility. He added that each day of a National Assembly session costs approximately Rs60 million.
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