LAHORE, June 21: PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif says suspension of 10 opposition MPAs of the Punjab Assembly is illegal. In a press statement issued on his behalf here on Tuesday, the former chief minister said Rana Sanaullah’s contention on the NFC was legally strong and in the interest of the people of Punjab.

He said it was the right of elected representatives to express their views about people’s problems. But, he said, the speaker had set a bad precedent by expelling the critics of the government.

He demanded that the expulsion orders be taken back forthwith.

Criticism of the government and protest against the partisan attitude of the speaker, the PML-N leader said, was a routine in assemblies and no speaker had ever taken the kind of action resorted to by the Punjab Assembly speaker.

He alleged that the ruling party legislators had used a more indecent language than was attributed to the opposition legislators. But, he said, no action had been taken against them which established that the speaker was partisan in his attitude.

Shahbaz Sharif said the government had failed in controlling lawlessness and solving people’s problems. Instead of using the speaker to cover up its failures, he said the government should try to bring about a harmony among the federating units and settle differences between the centre and the provinces.