Pakistan: Punjab Assembly secured with barbed wires

Islamabad, April 6 : The Punjab Assembly was on Wednesday sealed with barbed wires atop its boundary walls, this comes amid uncertainty over the scheduling of a session for the election of the province’s new chief minister. A large police contingent has been deployed outside the assembly, water cannons and Rescue 1122 vehicles are also reported to be parked outside the assembly’s building. The development comes in the backdrop of submission of a no-confidence motion against Deputy Speaker of the house Sardar Dost Muhammad Mazari. Mazari had said the session for the chief minister’s election would take place on Wednesday(today) at 7:30 pm. PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari in a tweet claimed that the deputy speaker had been “locked out” of the assembly on the day voting for the chief minister’s election is to take place. He wrote “If it takes 30 seconds to pull off a coup, it should take 30 seconds to undo a coup. Justice delayed is justice denied. After last week’s constitutional breakdown in Islamabad, today Punjab deputy speaker was locked out of [the] assembly on [the] day of voting for CM. Barbered [sic] wire around people’s house.” Meanwhile, Pakistan Muslim League(Nawaz) Vice-President Maryam Nawaz has said that she would be reaching the Assembly by 7 pm to support Hamza Shehbaz, who is the opposition party’s candidate for the chief minister. “To stand with Hamza who clearly has the majority, I will be going to [the] Punjab Assembly ijlaas (session) at 7[pm] Insha’Allah,” she tweeted. Earlier today a resolution seeking the removal of the deputy speaker Mazari was filed by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf(PTI) and PML-Q lawmakers. The lawmakers said Mazari had lost the confidence of the majority of the house and alleged that the assembly proceedings were not being carried out in accordance with the Constitution. Mazari however said that as per law he can still conduct the House despite the no-trust motion that has been moved against him. RKM

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