Four detained PTI MNAs reach Parliament
Only four of nine detained Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) members of the National Assembly were brought to Parliament on Friday to join the ongoing National Assembly session. Five elected representatives stayed out of the proceedings even though the party had asked for all nine to be produced.
The four lawmakers who arrived were Sanaullah Mastikhel, Dawar Kundi, Mian Ghous Muhammad and Muhammad Jamal Ahsan Khan. They were moved under tight security. Their residences at the Parliament Lodges have been declared sub-jails, meaning they remain in custody while staying in those lodgings.
Request to the speaker for all nine
The partial production followed a letter a day earlier from PTI’s chief whip in the National Assembly, Aamir Dogar, to Speaker Ayaz Sadiq. Dogar sought production orders for all nine detained members so they could attend the session, and asked the speaker to take immediate notice and ensure their presence in the House.
The nine MNAs named in that letter were Haji Imtiaz Ahmad Choudhry, Muhammad Jamal Ahsan Khan, Mian Ghous Muhammad, Sanaullah Mastikhel, Dawar Kundi, Junaid Akbar, Amjad Ali Khan, Fazal Muhammad Khan and Adil Khan Bazai. By the time reports from the capital were filed on Friday, only four of them had been brought; the other five were still absent.
It was not clear whether the remaining five would be produced later in the same session, or whether further orders would be issued to bring them. Reasons for their non-production were not immediately available.
Arrests linked to the Islamabad march plan
Police had arrested the PTI lawmakers in different parts of the country ahead of the party’s planned long march towards Islamabad on September 27. That march was later dispersed after emergency and governor’s rule were imposed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on October 11.
For constituents of the missing members, the practical question is whether their elected voices can still speak and vote in the House while detention continues. Production orders are the formal route used to bring detained parliamentarians into the assembly for sittings; how far that process goes for the five still absent will shape the next phase of this dispute.
Timeline: what has happened so far
- September 27: PTI had planned a long march towards Islamabad; party MNAs were arrested by police in various areas ahead of that plan.
- October 11: Emergency and governor’s rule were imposed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa; the march was subsequently dispersed.
- Thursday (day before Friday’s sitting): PTI chief whip Aamir Dogar wrote to Speaker Ayaz Sadiq seeking production of all nine detained MNAs.
- Friday: Four of the nine — Sanaullah Mastikhel, Dawar Kundi, Mian Ghous Muhammad and Muhammad Jamal Ahsan Khan — were brought to Parliament; five remained absent.
Aasan alfaaz mein
PTI ke nau qaid MNAs mein se sirf char ko National Assembly ke session ke liye Parliament laya gaya. Baqi paanch abhi bhi House mein maujood nahi thay, halanke party ne speaker se sab ko pesh karne ki darkhwast ki thi. Yeh mamla un azya ki giraftari se judha hai jo Islamabad long march se pehle hui thi. Aam qari ke liye matlab yeh hai ke kuch ilaqon ke elected numainde abhi debate aur vote mein shamil nahi ho paaye.
