KARACHI, Nov 15: Jam Madad Ali, the leader of the Parliamentary Party of the Pakistan Muslim League-Functional in the Sindh Assembly, criticised Speaker Nisar Ahmad Khuhro for what he said giving a free hand to ministers and treasury members to use abusive language not only against the male opposition lawmakers and their elders, but even against women legislators.

Mr Ali, who is a spokesman for the estranged colleagues of the Pakistan People’s Party-led government, was talking to a group of media men in his assembly chamber after leading a walkout of the joint opposition from the house when Senior Minister Pir Mazharul Haq started flaying the role of the opposition with specific reference to elders of Jam Madad Ali.

The PML-F leader said after Fateha was offered for people who had died when the assembly was not in the session, “we asked the chair for allotment of seats on the opposition benches through a joint application. But on the suggestion of the chair, the members also submitted a separate request individually.”

Shahryar Mahar asked the chair to allot seats on the opposition benches to them as they had already quitted the government.

When Mr Khuhro told him that they could be allotted seats only after a notification of their resignation, they all walked out of the house.

The members also reacted strongly when the speaker announced that assent had been given by the governor to the newly adopted SPLG law which was greeted by the opposition members with slogans of ‘shame, shame’ and ‘not acceptable’. After the 10-minute-long rumpus over the law in front of the rostrum, they marched out of the house.

Later when, on a request of PPP lawmaker Imran Zafar Leghari, they re-entering the house, Sharjeel Memon was speaking, alleging that “we were brought up by the army and we had supported the Kalabagh dam project”, he said.—Staff Reporter