National Assembly turns into a fish market as MNAs shove each other, chant slogans

• Opposition, govt parliamentarians scuffle around the speaker's dias
• Deputy speaker suspends proceedings till after Zuhr prayers
• Omar Ayub's speech riled members of the Opposition
  

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ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly was mired in controversy for a second time in as many days as parliamentarians confronted each other with shoving matches and slogans. 

Federal Minister for Power Omar Ayub was speaking on Thursday during a session of the parliament when his speech angered members of the Opposition. 

Read more: Bill for open ballot in Senate elections presented in parliament amid noisy session

Ayub reportedly challenged any Opposition member to stand against him in an election, saying that he had gotten elected by beating a PML-N rival candidate by a margin of 40,000 votes. 

This did not sit well with the Opposition, who stood up and tore copies of the agenda, shouting slogans of "Go Imran Go" and "Ata mehnga, roti mehngi" while surrounding the speaker's dais. 

A shoving match started between members of the government and treasury benches due to which a few parliamentarians fell on the floor. PPP's Syed Naveed Qamar took the mic down from the deputy speaker's dais in protest. 

The deputy speaker postponed the session after Opposition and government members started got into scuffles. 

Federal Minister for Information and Technology Fawad Chaudhry could be seen in a video from the session, filming the ruckus from his mobile phone as another federal minister, Zartaj Gul Wazir looked on, smiling. 

A day earlier, the NA had turned noisy as well when the government presented a bill to hold open balloting in the upcoming Senate elections. 

The members of parliament belonging to the Opposition benches had chanted slogans, blew whistles, banged the desks and had stood up from their seats in protest against the move and in a bid to prevent Minister for Law Farogh Naseem from reading out the contents of the bill.

Members of both the treasury and Opposition benches chanted "go" against one another.

In response to the ruckus caused by Opposition members, government lawmakers had also gotten up and protested loudly. Shah Mahmood Qureshi had said: "It cannot be so that you say whatever you wish but do not listen to others."

Bill for open ballot in Senate elections not based on good intentions, says Raja Pervaiz Ashraf

Former prime minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf delivered a fiery speech during the National Assembly speech, saying that it was committing fraud by introducing the bill for open ballot in the Upper House. 

He said that Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had agreed that the government did not have enough numbers to have the amendment passed. 

"The government members of the parliament do not want to vote for the amendment as they themselves have received money [bribes] against it," he said. 

An angry Ashraf told the treasury benches that they should "learn how to speak with manners in the parliament". 

He said that three MNAs from Karachi had attacked PPP's Syed Naveed Qamar. Ashraf said, without naming anyone, that if they had any manners, the MNAs would apoligise to the PPP leader for attacking him. 

"I don't know where these people come from," he said with disdain, referring to the three MNAs who allegedly attacked Qamar. 

He said that the government was introducing the amendment to sully the Opposition's image, adding that a committee should be formed on the bill which should take suggestions from all members. 

Opposition misleading the masses, says Asad Umar

Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives, Asad Umar lashed out at the Opposition, saying that their leaders were misleading the masses on the Senate amendment bill. 

"PML-N and the PPP have always accused each other of buying each other's parliamentarians," he said. 

Umar said that he could not understand why the Opposition parties were creating a hue and cry at the bill. He said that the Opposition, at first, attempted to change the Senate chairman but faced humiliation in the process. 

"They stood against us even when the government was passing FATF laws," he said. "They couldn't even control their members during the joint session of the parliament."

Umar said that the apex court had described former prime minister Nawaz Sharif as a Godfather, adding that the PML-N leader was part of a criminal mafia. 

"Some of them have occupied illegal lands, others are heading the drug mafia," said the minister. 

Criticising the PML-N supremo, Umar said that the former prime minister was comfortably sitting in London while his parliamentarians were in trouble here because of him.