ISLAMABAD: Awami Muslim League Chief Sheikh Rasheed informed media that National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq offered to resign from his position in light of the recent scuffle in the assembly.
Rasheed told media that Ayaz Sadiq said that he would resign if members of the house did not have faith in his abilities to run affairs and if they were under the impression that he is biased in his decisions.
According to the AML Chief, the speaker made the offer during the parliamentary leaders’ meeting held on Friday over an unfortunate incident a day earlier whereby the Parliament turned into a battlefield on Thursday.
While speaking to the media following the meeting, Rasheed said the scuffle in the National Assembly would not have taken place had the speaker been impartial and neutral.
He added that if Sadiq had stood up to the opposition, he would have honoured not only democracy but his position as a speaker as well.
Sadiq also spoke to media after the meeting on the same day. Sadiq called PTI MNA Shehryar Afridi a stranger to the assembly, saying he had not declared his assets yet.
The speaker’s statement angered PTI’s Shah Mehmood Qureshi, who rubbished the allegations, saying the speaker was being biased. Qureshi told media that he would not let the assembly session take place if Afridi’s membership was suspended.
However, according to data available on the website of Election Commission of Pakistan, Afridi’s membership remains suspended for not submitting his statement of assets and liabilities for 2015-16.
