The Punjab Assembly (PA) session, which was set to begin at 11:30am on Saturday to elect the new chief minister, has been delayed due to disruption inside the legislature as Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) lawmakers clashed.
Slogans were chanted by both the parties, while PTI members threw ‘lotas’ at the opposition benches, reported Pakistani English Daily DAWN.
When Deputy Speaker Sardar Dost Muhammad Mazari, who was supposed to chair Saturday's session, entered the assembly, he was attacked by members of the treasury benches, who threw ‘lotas’ at him and tried to circle him. Mazari was immediately shifted to his chamber by assembly guards.
To control the situation inside the house, Punjab SSP Operations along with a huge contingent of police officers entered the assembly in civil clothes but later exited the hall after protests from Elahi.
Meanwhile, the Punjab chief secretary and IG have reached Mazari's chamber to chalk out a plan to resume the PA session.
Elahi, who is inside the assembly, blamed the PML-N for bringing the police inside the legislature "for the first time since the creation of assemblies".
"Who is police to enter the assembly?" the PML-Q leader said. "We will make sure the inspector general of police (IGP) appears before us and he will be punished for a month."
In a media talk outside the Punjab Assembly following the ruckus, PML-N leader Attaullah Tarar blamed Parvez Elahi and his "group of gangsters" for everything that happened inside the legislature.
"What happened today was a huge violation of the law and Constitution," he said. "Today, the deputy speaker was attacked. This is an incident of terrorism. I have heard Chaudhry Parvez Elahi wants to get one or two people murdered."
He added that Elahi had been encouraging the MPAs when they attacked the deputy speaker.
Tarar called on the Lahore High Court to take suo motu notice of the incident and initiate action against the culprits. "We are here and won't move till midnight."
