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ISLAMABAD: Legislators from both sides of the aisle broke out in the National Assembly on Monday after the Treasury tabled a bill on the tenure of Supreme Court judges and service chiefs.
Federal Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar presented bills to increase the number of judges in the Supreme Court and to amend the Practice and Procedure Ordinance of the Supreme Court. Meanwhile, Defense Minister Khawaja Asif presented an amendment bill to extend the tenure of service chiefs.
After the approval of the bill in the National Assembly, the Senate also approved the bill. The government wants to increase the number of judges from 17 to 34 and strengthen the composition of constitutional benches to “eliminate the backlog of cases.”
Live footage showed Prime Minister Nazeer Tarar and Defense Minister Khawaja Asif reading the bill in the President’s House. He and National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq were seen wearing headphones to avoid the noise and chanting of the opposition benches.
The lower house of Parliament, which was supposed to start at 4 pm, started at 6.50 pm after a delay of more than two hours.
Opposition members gathered in front of the Speaker’s dais against the legislation. He also tore the copy of the bills in front of Sadiq.
Throughout the proceedings, the opposition rioted, chanted and chanted “No, no!” They expressed their disagreement by raising slogans.
Opposition and finance members clashed in the tumultuous session of the National Assembly, after which additional security personnel were called.
Tensions escalated as government and opposition members confronted each other in front of the speaker’s dais, chanting slogans such as “Maryam ka papa chor hai” and tearing up copies of the bills. Government members retaliated with chants like “Pinky, Gogi, aur Kaptaan, loot kar kha gaye Pakistan.”
The situation escalated when federal information minister Ata Tarar and PTI member Shahid Khattak got into a scuffle.
In the midst of loud sloganeering, incidents of abusive language also took place in the assembly.
Despite the uproar, the Speaker continued the proceedings and adjourned the meeting till 11 am after approving the amendment bills clause-wise.
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