Senators Shahadat Awan, Saifullah Abro bury the hatchet after House intervenes for reconciliation amid heated altercatio

By Web Editor On Sep 5, 2024

ISLAMABAD: Senator Shahadat Hussain Awan of Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) and Senator Saifullah Abro of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Thursday embraced each other and buried the hatchet after the entire Hosue led by Chairman Senate, Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani intervened to end heated altercation between the two after reconciliation.

The Senate session opened with Presiding Officer, Senator Irfan Ahmed Siddiqui amid protest from the Opposition benches accusing Senator Shahadat Awan for using objectional remarks for the member of the Committee.

Earlier, Senator Samina Mumtaz Zehri of Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) alleged that Senator Shahadat Awan misbehaved in the Committee meeting and made personal remarks while disrespecting other members of the committee.

Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, Shibli Faraz said the PTI did not endorse unparliamentary norms in the House.

However, to ensure justice, the House should comprise a committee other than the members of the committee in which the scuffle took place. The committee should be formed which should unbiased committee other than the members of the said committee to ensure impartiality.

Minister for Law and Justice, Senator Azam Nazeer Tarar said the Upper House was not an imperial court and was run under rules to regulate its matter. However, such incidents were taking place due to tensions in the environment and two such incidents occurred in the National Assembly and the Speaker Assembly took action as per rules and suspended the two members including one of the treasury benches and the other of the opposition for misconduct.

“The issue should have been resolved before the session. The issue should be referred to the Chairman Senate and it should be done as per the rule,” he said.

Meanwhile, Senator Shahadat Awan in his response said Senator Abro accused him of being a tout and hurled foul language against him and threatened to hurt him with a chair.

“The House is asking for the committee but very reprehensible language has been used against me by the Senator,” he said.

The Presiding Officer Senator Irfan Ahmed Siddiqui adjourned the session for 15 minutes to bring normalcy to the House and reduce tension among the members of the Opposition and Treasury benches. The House resumed after the break and commenced with the conclusion of a question-hour session with Chairman Senate, Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani in chair.

The Chairman Senate convened the Senators involved in the matter and sought the support of the Leader of the Opposition, the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, the Parliamentary Leaders, the Presiding Officer and others to facilitate reconciliation among the Senators to resolve their dispute.

“This is the beauty of the upper house where its issues and legislative matters are resolved with mutual respect, consensus, reconciliation and dignity. These norms should be upheld at all costs,” he said.

The Minister for Law and Justice prior to the take up of the legislative business announced that both the Senators should embrace each other and end their dispute as par the tradition of the House which was appreciated by all the members.