ISLAMABAD, Nov 3: Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali said on Monday his government would fully support if the National Assembly Speaker initiated any action against parliamentarians impeding smooth functioning of the House.
Earlier, during the NA proceedings speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain repeatedly threatened to take action under the rules against lawmakers indulging in what he called unruly activities.
Talking to a group of newsmen at his Parliament House chamber, the prime minister said in such cases the speaker, as the custodian of the House, was obliged to take punitive action as envisaged by the relevant rules and if he took such an action, the government would back the speaker.
He told a questioner that the government had tolerated the Opposition’s unprecedented disorder in parliament for the last one year, “and today we saw the ugliest manifestation of this disorder.” He, however, expressed his confidence in the democratic process and said despite Opposition’s ongoing attempts to disrupt the proceedings in the House he saw a bright future for democracy in the country.
Referring to Javed Hashmi’s detention, he said: “Everyone of us has some constitutional limits and those who will cross these limits will get hurt.”
“All of us, the prime minister, ministers and MPs have taken an oath to safeguard the Constitution and whoever goes back on this oath has to face the music,” said the premier.
When asked about reported resentment in his ruling PML over the arrest of Mr Hashmi, Mr Jamali said: “It is the responsibility of the government to act in time. So, it acted. And if it did so without consulting the party no harm has been done as the party has its turf to operate.”
Replying to a question whether any more clues were found in the letter case and whether more arrests were on the cards after the interrogation of Mr Hashmi, he said: “Let things still undisclosed remain undiscussed.”
