LAHORE:Four chairpersons of standing committees belonging to the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf were removed through no-confidence motions on Monday in a seemingly `punitive` action against the arch foe for creating disorder during Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz`s speech in the Punjab Assembly.

Action against other nine chairpersons of standing committees from the opposition is in the pipeline as 26 of thetotal 106 PTI lawmakers have already been suspended by Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmed Khan and some of them have been fined for damaging officialproperty during the protest.

Rejecting the move, Opposition Leader Ahmed Khan Bhachar said the removal of chairpersons and suspension of MPAs will fail to make PTI legislators ditch their incarcerated leadership.

The no-confidence motions against Standing Committee on Literacy Chairman Ansar Iqbal, Special Education Chairman Saima Kanwal, Colonies Chairman Ahsan Ali and Management and Professional Development Committee Chairman Rai Murtaza were successful and they were dismissed from their posts.

The no-confidence motion against Ansar Iqbal was moved by treasury MPAs Faisal Akram, Lal Muhammad, Jafar Ali Hocha and Imran Javed;against Saima Kanwal by Muhammad Yousuf, Ghazanfar Abbas, Atiya Iftikhar and Falbous Christopher; against Ahsan Ali by Naveed Aslam, Ghazali Saleem Butt, Zakia Khan and Ayesha Javed; while against Rai Murtaza was moved by Rana Abdul Sattar, Sohail Khan, Riffat Abbasi and Ziaur Rehman.

The treasury members are also working to submit no-confidence motions to withdraw the chairmanship of the remaining nine committees held by the PTI.

The opposition fiercely condemned the suspensions, with Opposition Leader Bhachar alleging a complete disregard for legal process and the imposition of a `family monopoly` within the house.

Flanked by suspended PTI members outside the assembly, he launched a scathing attack on the government. He questioned the selective nature of the disciplinary action, stating, `Why were only 26members suspended? If protest was the reason, why not suspend everyone?` He accused Speaker Khan of bias and undermining democratic principles, vowing to challenge `every unconstitutional move in court.

Bhachar also raised concerns about government transparency, asking, `Why doesn`t this government account for Rs1,000 billion?` Speaker Khan defended the suspensions during his address to the assembly, emphasising the need for decorum and adherence to constitutional and assembly rules.

`If no one follows the rules, the speaker has the authority to enforce them,` he asserted. He questioned the opposition`s understanding of democracy, stating, `Is democracy about abusing others, humiliating women, making noise, or physically attacking members? No. Democracy is about listening to one another.