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Senate session adjourned amid opposition protest

Mumtaz Alvi
Saturday, Jan 18, 2025

ISLAMABAD: The Senate session was abruptly adjourned Friday before the completion of question hour, as the opposition legislators wanted to speak on the sentence awarded to PTI former chairman Imran Khan.

Leader of the Opposition Syed Shibli Faraz repeatedly requested the chair to let him speak, being his prerogative as opposition leader and cited parliamentary traditions as well.

Shibli Faraz sought the floor during the question hour to speak about the conviction of his party founder as well as his spouse Bushra Bibi. However, Senate Deputy Chairman Syedaal Khan straight away refused to give him the floor and said that under Rule 41 question hour had to be completed first. “I will allow you to speak on points of public importance but let first the question hour be exhausted,” the chair contended and this led to a noisy protest in the House. But Shibli insisted that this was prerogative while referring to a parliamentary tradition under which no one can speak when the leader of the house or the leader of the opposition has the floor.

Senate deputy chairman abruptly adjourned the House to meet again on Monday afternoon, while the noisy protest continued. As he adjourned the proceedings, PTI lawmakers gathered close to his podium and chanted slogans against what they called black laws and verdicts, a travesty of justice and the opposition’s witch-hunt.