ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly on Thursday suspended Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawmaker Iqbal Afridi for the remainder of the ongoing budget session after Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq accused him of misconduct with National Assembly staff, the DG Media and police personnel.

During the proceedings, the speaker directed the Sergeant-at-Arms to remove Afridi from the House, alleging that the PTI member had raised his hand against assembly staff, misbehaved with the DG Media and acted inappropriately with police officials. Sadiq termed the conduct unacceptable and ordered disciplinary action.

A motion seeking Afridi’s suspension was moved by Farah Naz Akbar and was approved by the House through a majority vote. Following the decision, the speaker announced that Afridi would remain suspended for the entire budget session and would not be entitled to any allowances, including travelling and daily allowances, during the suspension period.

Addressing the PTI lawmaker, the speaker asked him to leave the House voluntarily, warning that security personnel would remove him if he refused to comply. Afridi later left the assembly hall.

Earlier in the sitting, which began under the chairmanship of Speaker Ayaz Sadiq, Afridi repeatedly pointed out a lack of quorum. After his first objection, members were counted and the quorum was found incomplete, leading to a temporary adjournment of proceedings.

When the session resumed, Afridi again raised the quorum issue. This time, the count confirmed that the required number of members was present and proceedings continued. However, when he attempted to raise the issue once more, the speaker declined to entertain the objection.

“A quorum cannot be pointed out every half hour,” Sadiq remarked, adding that there were established rules governing quorum procedures.

During the proceedings, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar sought permission to speak, but the speaker indicated that Afridi’s conduct could not be overlooked if party members chose to defend him.

Separately, the National Assembly passed the Pakistan Telecommunication Re-Organisation (Amendment) Bill, 2025, presented by Federal Minister for Information Technology Shaza Fatima Khawaja. The House also approved an amendment moved by Huma Akhtar Chughtai. The IT minister later explained that the amendment related to revising the retirement age of judges serving on the appellate tribunal.

PPP lawmaker Syed Naveed Qamar proposed three amendments concerning disputes over the right of way for laying 5G fibre-optic infrastructure. He argued that provincial and relevant local authorities should be empowered to resolve such disputes and that limits should be placed on fines imposed during the process.

Speaking to journalists outside Parliament, Barrister Gohar criticised the government’s upcoming budget, saying it would not provide relief to the public. He said inflation remained high and consumers were burdened by rising utility bills. The PTI chairman also claimed that the budget was being prepared on the basis of “fake figures” and stressed that the government should focus on providing relief to citizens.

Gohar said the PTI parliamentary party would meet to formulate its strategy regarding the budget session. He maintained that ensuring quorum was the government’s responsibility and noted that a single day of the National Assembly session cost approximately Rs60 million.