ISLAMABAD, May 26: National Assembly Speaker Dr Fehmida Mirza, who saved the prime minister from disqualification, may face the ire of the PML-N when the house meets on June 1 for presentation of the federal budget.

Sources in the main opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz told Dawn on Saturday that there was a strong group within the party which believed that besides Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, they should also target the speaker during their protest to show their anger over her alleged partisan role.

The speaker through a ruling on Thursday refused to send any reference to the Election Commission of Pakistan for disqualification of the prime minister in the light of his conviction by the Supreme Court’s April 26 order on contempt charges for not writing a letter to the Swiss authorities to reopen a money laundering case against PPP Co-Chairman and President Asif Ali Zardari.

The harsh language used by Opposition Leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan against the speaker in his first reaction to her ruling was an indication that the PML-N could target her during the protest the party has been planning for the budget session.

Speaking at a news conference, Chaudhry Nisar condemned the speaker’s ruling and stated that she had acted as a PPP activist and not as custodian of the house. The PML-N leader also hinted at the possibility of challenging her ruling before a court of law, when in response to a question he said any such decision would only be made by the party after consultations.

The opposition leader already has strained relations with the speaker and the latter had invited him to her chamber with two other PML-N members, who played the most active role during the party’s recent noisy protests in the house. She had also extended this invitation to Chaudhry Nisar in response to his letter to her earlier this month which deplored her “partial attitude” and questioned the legal status of the two resolutions passed by the house ‘in a haste’ to repose confidence in the convicted prime minister and in favour of creation of south Punjab province at a time when the opposition members were not taking part in the proceedings.

In a recent TV interview, the speaker also used some harsh words when she said some of the MNAs from the opposition party had violated rules of business of the lower house.

Since Mr Gilani’s conviction last month, the PML-N has been agitating inside and outside the parliament demanding that the prime minister should step down after the apex court’s verdict. The PML-N says it does not recognise Mr Gilani and his cabinet as legitimate after the apex court’s decision.

The PML-N legislators lodged a strong protest and created a rumpus in the National Assembly throughout the previous session whereas its members in the Senate boycotted the proceedings, saying they were not ready even to listen to the federal ministers as they had also lost their legal position after the prime minister’s conviction.

It will be the fifth and final budget to be presented by the present PPP-led coalition government and the ruling party had already established “informal contacts” with the PML-N in an effort to have a “smooth” budget speech, at least.