National Assembly: Ministers, other treasury members stage walkout over 'terror links' IB memo

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination Riaz Hussain Pirzada on Thursday staged a walkout from National Assembly session along with 12 other lawmakers in protest over Intelligence Bureau (IB)’s memo claiming links of parliamentarians with proscribed terror outfits.

The list comprises a number of key ministers including Riaz Pirzada, Law Minister Zahid Hamid, Deputy Speaker National Assembly Murtaza Javed Abbasi, Baleeghur Rehman, Hafiz Abdul Kareem, Sikandar Bosan and others.

Giving a blistering speech on the floor of parliament before the walkout, Pirzada said that the government’s apathy to call an inquiry into the matter is beyond his understanding.

“The Prime Minister should have immediately ordered an inquiry after receiving the memo,” he asserted.

He urged Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal to clarify the PM House’s stance on the matter.

Speaker Ayaz Sadiq interrupted Pirzada during his speech and informed him that the IB had filed a complaint with the electronic media regulatory authority over the fake memo using the name of IB.

“[While] you were on a visit to Iraq, this complaint was filed by the Intelligence Bureau,” Sadiq added.

Speaker advised Pirzada to come to his chamber on Friday. He will call Director General Intelligence Bureau. The matter has also been in a court, the speaker added.

The Intelligence Bureau has in a statement denied existence of any such list or report.