In the press gallery of the National Assembly, during every session for the past year, one thing must have been heard 'Now what is the meeting, and what is its action, the opposition is not present in the assembly.' Journalists also used to say in their comments that 'now there is no discussion in the National Assembly session, now only speeches are made.'

He pointed to a very friendly, few-member opposition to the members of the PDM parties in the National Assembly, who would not oppose the coalition government on any legislation, nor would they be part of any debate.

This phase used to be particularly troubling for journalists covering democracy and parliamentary politics in Pakistan, who in previous regimes have reported hours-long debates on parliament and legislation even by the most friendly opposition.


But today, during the joint session of the Parliament, the situation in the hall of the National Assembly was completely different from last year. There was noise in the assembly hall which would surely be disturbing for the members sitting there, but the journalists sitting in the press gallery were very happy to see the scenes.


Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf senators participated in the hall of the National Assembly after a long time in the form of opposition and once again the same atmosphere was created which is expected in any democracy during the presence of opposition and government members on the benches.


Jokes and jitters were part of today's session.



"Thankfully, the opposition has also been seen today." A journalist opined. While another senior journalist sitting next to me said, 'When the opposition is present, the meeting is fun and it is clear that the public representatives are debating an issue. This is democracy and this is the beauty of democracy.


Today was the third day of the joint session of Parliament, which began on March 23.


The session could not start at the scheduled time, but as soon as the proceedings started, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf senators entered the assembly hall holding anti-election commission banners and shouting slogans. Earlier, PTI had announced a boycott of this meeting.


But today the PTI leaders were present in the Parliament to protest against the Election Commission's decision to stop the provincial assembly elections. In the echo of their slogans, the voice of the Speaker National Assembly Raja Pervez Ashraf was somewhat muffled.


Carrying banners like 'Hurry up the election', and 'Don't run away from the election', these senators stood in front of the speaker's dais and recorded their protest.


The Speaker directed them to take their seats after which the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate Shehzad Wasim gave a speech. During his speech, the journalists boycotted the meeting and protested against the torture of journalists, cases against them, the arrest of Siddique Jan, and the torture of journalists in the Islamabad High Court.


Meanwhile, after Waseem Shehzad's speech in the Assembly Hall, Maulana Asad Mehmood of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam started his speech, and during his speech, Tehreek-e-Insaf people kept shouting slogans and banging desks.


Asad Mehmood made a long speech and criticized Imran Khan and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf's politics in harsh words, to which PTI senators responded with slogans. At one point, this war of words and phrases became so intense that even the speaker of the National Assembly was seen laughing while looking at the hall.


On this occasion, the members from the seats of the government coalition also stood up and shouted retorts. Finally, the Speaker of the National Assembly had to intervene and asked the members to 'take care of the honor and respect of the House'.


PTI Senator Faisal Javed Khan went in front of Speaker Dice several times and requested him to turn off the microphone of Maulana Asad Mehmood and give a chance to the Senators of his party, but today it seemed that the Speaker National Assembly himself also Asad. Mahmood was given a chance to speak.


The speech continued for about an hour and a half, and the PTI senators got agitated and tore the copies of the agenda. Faisal Javed Khan got up from his seat and said, 'Sit down now, Mr. Speaker.'


Along with him, other senators of PTI gathered in front of Speaker Dice and asked to take back the sentences spoken by Maulana Asad Mahmood Imran Khan regarding children. Speaker National Assembly adjourned the session on this occasion. Meanwhile, PTI members kept shouting slogans. The joint session was adjourned till April 10.


During this whole phase, another journalist called Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf's resignation from the assemblies last year as a wrong step and gave his opinion that now PTI has also understood that the correct platform is the parliament where sitting They can also express their concerns and take concrete steps.'


Now it is another matter that despite the repeated request of Tehreek-e-Insaaf today, no other member could get a special opportunity to speak except Shehzad Waseem.