LAHORE: Punjab Assembly Deputy Speaker Sardar Dost Muhammad Mazari alleges the assembly secretariat is “harassing, transferring and suspending” his staff.

Mr Mazari says the assembly secretariat high-ups suspended and transferred his personal secretary and changed other staff without getting his consent.

He alleges that the staff posted at his official residence has also been harassed by summoning them to the secretariat.

He pledged to counter all these negative tactics initiated against him since he acted upon the Lahore High Court orders to conduct elections for the office of chief minister on April 16 and recalls that he had been assaulted by the PTI and PML-Q goons during the process.

A spokesperson for the assembly secretariat says the deputy speaker has been given all the staff and other facilities as per law.

The spokesperson says that the post of staff officer to the deputy speaker is vacant due to retirement of the earlier appointee, Muhammad Akbar. Mr Mazari has been given a private secretary, a personal assistant, a clerk, telephone operators, drivers and naib qasids as well as four police guards deployed at the Deputy Speaker House.

The official says that only 40 additional employees deputed on Mr Mazari’s request on the CM’s election day have been withdrawn.

Published in Dawn, May 13th, 2022