LAHORE, June 17: Punjab Assembly Speaker Afzal Sahi declared on Friday that he would not mind running the house even without the entire opposition. Speaking after expelling seven more opposition members from the house for two weeks on Friday, Mr Sahi said he had been tolerating opposition’s ‘rowdy behaviour’ for the last 30 months.

“The opposition has been threatening to bring a no-confidence motion against me. With this kind of rude behaviour, it runs the risk of losing more members,” he warned.

The speaker said that being the custodian of the house he could not allow anyone to use unparliamentary language as Rana Sanaullah did on Wednesday. “The opposition will have to behave if it wants to be part of this house.”

Launching personal attack on Sheikh Ijaz, Mr Sahi said: “I know what kind of man he is. I have been tolerating such people only because of my responsibilities as the speaker. The entire house stands witness to the fact that I have been very tolerant towards the opposition, but it has not proven to be worthy of such a behaviour,” he maintained.

He accused the opposition of trampling rules, irritating the treasury members and showing non-serious attitude. “If someone wants to make his name by using abusive language in the house, he better find some other place,” Mr Sahi said.

Defending his decision of debarring two members of the opposition on Thursday, he said that “the matter should have ended with the Rana withdrawing his remarks. He was given the mike again on his own request after he used foul language. But, instead of ending the matter there and then, the Rana walked out of the house. This kind of behaviour necessitated some measures.”

The speaker was not alone to defend his decision. The entire treasury led by Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi was behind him.

“It was the most appropriate decision taken by the speaker,” said the chief minister. The opposition, specially the Rana, had been using indecent language in the house, making it difficult for the speaker to maintain decorum. This kind of conduct cannot be allowed to go unchecked,” he said.

The opposition, he added, had tested tolerance level of the treasury and speaker for far too long. “You (opposition members) must think why are you supporting the Rana. There is no national issue involved. The trouble is with his unparliamentary language. This kind of behaviour must be condemned by all honourable members irrespective of their party affiliations.”

Earlier, ministers Raja Basharat, Imran Masood and Ali Akbar Niwani also heaped praise on Mr Sahi.