Turmoil in the National Assembly: How much power does the Speaker have to maintain order in the House?

 

Turmoil in the National Assembly: How much power does the Speaker have to maintain order in the House?

If there is anyone in trouble in the assembly at the moment, it is probably Asad Qaiser, the speaker of the National Assembly, who was seen on Tuesday trying to somehow continue the National Assembly session, but apparently his own party the people of were not listening to him.

Tuesday's session of Pakistan's National Assembly was marred by riots in which opposition and government member’s clashed, non-parliamentary language was used and copies of the budget were used as weapons, prompting some MPs to resign. There are also reports of injuries. These videos of the proceedings of the House went viral on social media.

The National Assembly session was adjourned till Wednesday after a commotion in the House on Tuesday, after which the Speaker of the National Assembly Asad Qaisad in a tweet described the events in the Assembly as disappointing. He said a full investigation into the incident would be carried out and members using non-parliamentary language would not be allowed to enter the house on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, Speaker Asad Qaiser, using his powers, not only directed Sergeant at Arms to stop the commotion, but at his request, the Upper House also handed over additional personnel of Sergeant at Arms to the National Assembly Secretariat.

Sergeants at Arms are the officers in both Houses of Parliament who are responsible for dealing with riots and such unpleasant situations.

These sergeants can also forcibly remove a member of the National Assembly from the House on the orders of the Speaker. However, Speaker Asad Qaiser has not yet exercised his powers and has only announced an inquiry.