LAHORE: National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq says the salaries and perks paid to Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf MNAs for the period they had been staging sit-in would be recovered if the motion seeking their disqualification is passed by the House.

“A motion seeking disqualification of PTI MNAs has been submitted to the National Assembly secretariat…and if the motion gets passed by the House all the amount paid to them as salaries and other perks will be retrieved from them,” Mr Sadiq said while inaugurating an infrastructure development project in his constituency here on Monday.

The PTI lawmakers had boycotted parliament’s proceedings during their 126-day Islamabad sit-in without submitting their formal leave applications. Under the National Assembly rules of business a lawmaker absenting himself/herself for consecutive 40 sittings without approval of the House may be disqualified to be a member if a motion to that effect is adopted by it.

The NA speaker said: “It is better for India to have good neighbourly relations with Pakistan.” Personally, he said, he did not think Indians as good neighbours.

Published in Dawn, July 7th, 2015

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