Multiple lawmakers have written to the speaker of the National Assembly, Asad Qaiser, to issue production orders for Member of National Assembly Ali Wazir, who has been detained by law enforcement agencies, to make sure he can attend the session of the house wherein a vote on the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan will be held.
In a letter, the lawmakers called upon the NA speaker to issue the production order under his authority as the house custodian and in view of Rule 108 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the National Assembly, 2007. The letter shows multiple signatures on the document including that of Pakistan People’s Party co-chair Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.
During the proceedings of the National Assembly today on Friday, three members were reported to be absent from the house – as reported by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s MNA Maiza Hameed Gujjar on Twitter – one of whom was Ali Wazir, the other being Pakistan People’s Party’s (PPP) Jam Abdul Karim and Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal’s (MMA) Abdul Akbar Chitrali.
MNA Ali Wazir was arrested in December 2020 following accusations of ‘criminal conspiracy’ and ‘making derogatory comments about state institutions’. The alleged comments had been made in a protest gathering in Karachi, and a case was registered against the lawmaker and other leaders of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM), of which Wazir is a part.
