• Opposition lawmaker seeks National Security Committee meeting over terrorism
• Gohar alleges ‘rigging’ in Haripur by-election; speaker tells him to approach tribunal

ISLAMABAD: The ruling PML-N’s strength in the Natio­nal Assembly swelled to 131 on Thursday after its five members, who won the recent by-election in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtun­khwa’s constituencies, took oath as members of the lower house of parliament.

Daniyal Ahmed, Muhammad Noman, Mehmood Qadir, Babar Nawaz, and Muhammad Tufail were administered oath by the NA speaker and they subsequently signed the roll of the members. One of the lawmakers-elect Muhammad Bilal Badar was not present in the house to take the oath because his victory notification has not been issued.

According to ECP spokesperson Duriya Amir, the notification for NA-96 Faisalabad has been stopped because a code of conduct case was pending in the commission against Talal Chaud­hry and Bilal Chaudhry. During the session, opposition member Iqbal Afridi pointed out the quorum but the session continued as the required number of MNAs was present in the house.

On this, some harsh words were exchanged between Mr Afridi and NA Speaker Ayaz Sadiq. “I will turn off your mic,” the speaker admonished the opposition member. On this, Mr Afridi retorted that what else could the speaker do.

During the session, opposition MNA Noor Alam, while speaking on the floor of the house, expressed concerns about the security situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, lamenting that the situation had been deteriorating in these areas.

“Our armed forces personnel are being martyred every day but Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi is not taking the house in confidence,” he complained. He urged the government to summon a meeting of the National Security Committee to apprise the lawmakers on the prevailing security situation in the country.

PTI interim chairman Barris­ter Gohar Ali Khan, meanwhile, questioned the transparency and fair play in recent by-polls.NA Speaker Ayaz Sadiq, however, asked Barrister Gohar to approach the election tribunal if he had objections regarding the Haripur by-election.

Responding to a calling attention notice, Minister for Parliam­entary Affairs Tariq Fazal Chaudhary said the government had taken steps to improve the environment of Islamabad. He said action had been taken against “smoke-emitting vehicles”.

Meanwhile, the National Assembly passed four separate bills and a resolution against the Indian defence minister’s controversial remarks about the Sindh province.

The house will now meet at 11am today (Friday).

Published in Dawn, November 28th, 2025