Fawad asks opposition to set free parliamentarians ‘imprisoned’ at Sindh House

F.P. Report

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad Hussain on Friday asked the opposition parties to release the parliamentarians “detained” at the the Sindh House, Islamabad so that they could take their political decisions in a free manner.

“All those [parliamentarians] imprisoned in the Sindh House under the [Sindh] police’s watch should be set free and allowed to take independent decisions,” he said while addressing a news conference.

Flanked by Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Minister for Planning, Development & Special Initiatives Asad Umar, he said discussions were underway in different circles whether a parliamentarian, who was involved in horse trading, could cast a vote under the Article 63A of Constitution.

“To remove this confusion, we are approaching the Supreme Court to explain whether the Constitution allows horse trading or not,” he said, adding a presidential reference in that regard would be filed in the SC on Monday. Instructions had been issued for preparing the reference.

The apex court’s advice would also be sought on whether those who were disqualified for defecting to the party, could contest the election again or were banned for lifetime, he added.

Fawad said there would be two separate proceedings. On the one hand, National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser would start the process for disqualification [of the PTI’s dissident MNAs], and on the other, the apex court would be requested for day-to-day hearings to get answers of the above-mentioned questions.

He said the preparations for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s public gathering scheduled for March 27 at D-Chowk Islamabad were in full swing. It would be the biggest public meeting in the country’s history. To a query, he said it was the prerogative of the speaker to when he convenes the NA session.