LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) leader and former interior minister Ahsan Iqbal on Sunday said that Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif will attend the budget session of the parliament in order to present the opposition’s stance despite the risk it poses to his health.
Speaking to a private television channel, Iqbal said that the budget session was important and as the opposition leader, Shehbaz would have to take part in it. “The opposition would give constructive suggestions on the budget,” he noted.
Speaking about the parliament’s session conducted during the lockdown, the PML-N leader raised questions that if the executive and the judiciary were working in the country, what was wrong with the parliament sitting.
“The attitude of not attending the parliamentary sessions due to the fear of contracting the virus, especially when the people are losing lives to this deadly disease, is not appropriate,” underscored the PML-N leader, noting that the lockdown of the parliament will send the wrong message to the people.
He also feared that the speaker or deputy speaker would not allow the opposition to speak during the virtual meeting.
In response, Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Technology, who was also a guest on the show remarked that the virtual meeting was opposed by those who could not even open WhatsApp, adding that it was difficult for him to attend the meeting since the danger of catching the virus was extremely high. “May God protect those who are going to the meeting,” he said.
“A special application could have been designed for a secure parliament session. But the speaker did not include me or the Information Technology (IT) ministers in the committee on the virtual session,” he said.
Speaking about the picture of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif floating around the internet, Chaudhry said that PM Imran had assured an investigation into the PML-N leader’s medical reports.
“Whoever is accountable would suffer during the inquiry process,” he remarked.
