PTI bulldozes 11 ordinances through NA.

ISLAMABAD -- In a controversial move, the National Assembly on Thursday passed 11 presidential ordinances within half an hour amid ruckus by opposition members.

The session of the lower house of parliament started after Prime Minister Imran Khan held a meeting of the parliamentary committee of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) in Parliament House, directing the party legislators to get all the bills passed, especially the one aimed at replacing the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) with the Pakistan Medical Commission (PMC). The prime minister remained in his chamber in Parliament House till the session of the lower house was adjourned till 11am on Friday.

Interestingly, Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri got the 11 ordinances passed in such haste that no time was given to legislators to hold a proper debate on them. He turned a deaf ear to the opposition members belonging to all main opposition parties - Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) - and others who tore up copies of the bills, threw them towards the deputy speaker and converged on the speaker's dais.

The opposition rejected passage of the ordinances and termed it 'unconstitutional' and vowed to bring a no-confidence motion against the deputy speaker.

The session started at 4:30pm and soon after commencement, the deputy speaker suspended the question hour and started a 25-point order of the day that carried introduction of four ordinances and four bills. Seven ordinances were later introduced by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Azam Swati. These were recently promulgated by President Arif Alvi.

Opposition parties term the move unconstitutional, vow to bring no-trust motion against deputy speaker

The ordinances passed by the assembly were related to conversion of the PMDC into the Pakistan Medical Commission, the protection of whistleblower who will inform about any benami property and asset, rights of ownership of women in property, efficacious and speedy mechanism for issuance of letter of administration and succession certificates, establishment of legal aid and justice authority to provide justice to the poor and vulnerable segments of society, court dress and mode of address to judges, recovery of mortgage-backed securities by financial institutions and the National Highway Safety.

Later, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Information Firdous Ashiq Awan at a joint press conference along with Mr Swati...