Senior leader of the Muslim League (N) and Speaker of the National Assembly Ayaz Sadiq has stated that he will not accept the Supreme Court’s decision regarding the allocation of reserved seats to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and will wait for the Election Commission’s decision before taking any action.
According to reports, in an interview, Ayaz Sadiq described the Supreme Court’s majority decision on reserved seats as akin to “rewriting the constitution.”
He pointed to the Election Act 2017 amendment, stating that the House will not accept the Supreme Court’s decision because the law has now changed.
He said that if they start listening to the courts, there will be many such decisions; therefore, they will not act on the court’s orders but will wait for the Election Commission’s notification, as the Election Commission is the authorized body in this regard.
When asked by the host if he considers the Election Commission above the Supreme Court, Ayaz Sadiq replied that despite being aware of the court decisions, he prefers to wait for the Election Commission’s instructions regarding the members of the Assembly.
The Speaker of the National Assembly revealed that members of the government benches had contacted him expressing their desire to take over the chairmanship of the Public Accounts Committee, as they had the numbers.
Ayaz Sadiq stated that he asked those members to wait, hoping that after the approval of the 26th Amendment, attention would now be given to this pending issue.
He acknowledged that decision-making in several parliamentary committees, including the Public Accounts Committee, has been sluggish because they remained inactive.
When the host asked if there is a perception that the independence of the judiciary has been undermined through these reforms after the 26th constitutional amendment, Ayaz Sadiq responded, “If Parliament can make the constitution, why can’t it appoint those who interpret the constitution? This exists in developed countries, so why can’t we?”
Referencing Article 239, he mentioned that no court has been able to challenge constitutional amendments, and if PTI attempts to challenge it, it would violate the Constitution.
In response to a question about PTI’s non-support for constitutional amendments and their non-participation in voting, he said that every party has its position due to political reasons; PTI did not support the 26th amendment.
Regarding the presence of intelligence agency personnel during the approval of the amendment, the Speaker of the National Assembly stated, “No agency personnel entered the premises of the National Assembly.”
Reference against Defected Members
Regarding the votes of four PTI MNAs in the 26th constitutional amendment, Ayaz Sadiq said that according to the Election Commission, all four members were elected in an independent capacity.
He cited the example of Adil Bazaai, an MNA elected from Quetta, who later became a part of the Muslim League (N) but remained in the opposition; he was also given the chairmanship of a government committee but still voted against the party during crucial occasions, including constitutional amendments.
Ayaz Sadiq mentioned that he has sent a reference against Adil Bazaai to the Election Commission and that he has been issued a notice by the party for being absent during the 26th amendment.
He further stated that if any party has concerns about one of its members, they can file a complaint, and they will see if the reference is meritorious; if so, it will be forwarded.
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