The National Assembly session on Tuesday was adjourned indefinitely following the expunging of remarks made by Opposition Leader Omar Ayub Khan. Representing the PTI-led opposition, Ayub sharply criticised the previous night’s rapid passage of six bills, labelling the action as a “shameful incident” and calling the ruling coalition a “government of thieves.” Deputy Speaker Mir Ghulam Mustafa Shah immediately ordered Ayub’s remarks to be removed from the record.
The contentious bills, affecting judicial structure and the tenure of military service chiefs, were passed on Monday amid PTI protests. They expanded the number of Supreme Court and Islamabad High Court judges and extended the tenures of the chiefs of Pakistan’s armed forces. The legislation was pushed through both parliamentary houses in under an hour without debate.
When Ayub resumed his speech Tuesday, the livestream on the National Assembly’s YouTube channel went blank, shortly followed by a similar interruption on PTV Parliament’s channel. Although the livestream briefly resumed later, the session was soon adjourned indefinitely.
Among the six bills, the ‘Supreme Court Number of Judges (Amendment) Bill 2024’ increases the number of Supreme Court justices from 17 to 34, while the ‘Islamabad High Court (Amendment) Bill 2024’ expands the bench from nine to 12. Additional bills set a five-year tenure for the chiefs of the army, navy, and air force, with exemptions to the standard retirement age of 64.
The rapid legislation, introduced by Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar and Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, sparked heated protests in the Assembly. Opposition members tore up copies of the bills and shouted slogans targeting the government and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.