ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly on Friday witnessed a war of words between Leader of the Opposition Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah and Defence Minister Khawaja Asif as they blamed each other for weakening institutions, including the judiciary.

The opposition members ended their parallel session they had held outside the National Assembly hall on Wednesday and joined the assembly proceedings.

But they boycotted the session again soon after the conclusion of Mr Shah`s speech.

As the session started for a debate on the federal budget 2017-18, the speaker gave the mike to the leader of the opposition.

Mr Shah lashed out at the government for what he called confrontation with the state institutions. `The country is facing attacks from three sides of its borders and the rulers are bent upon confronting the institutions.

On whose support former senator Nehal Hashmi had threatened judges and members of the joint investigation team (JIT) probing the Panama Papers case, he asked. `Ruling party leaders have been threatening the judiciary for a long time.

One talks about giving atough time and the other about taking out cof fins,` he added.

The opposition leader said those three judges were being threatened who had ordered the formation of the JIT that he thought was some `relief` for Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in the Panama Papers case.

`To which direction are you taking the country? People are worried about the fate of democracy,` he said.

Talking about the budget 2017-18, Mr Shah said the opposition rejected the budget as it had nothing for the poor of the country.

When the opposition staged a walkout, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif delivered a speech in which he launched a blistering attack on the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and countered the allegations levelled by the leader of the opposition.

Talking about Mr Hashmi`s controversial statement, he said no one could defend what the senator had said. The statement could only be condemned, he added.

However, he said, Prime Minister Sharif had taken swift action over Mr Hashmi`s statement and brought to an end his political career by not only depriving him of his Senate seat but also cancelling his party membership.

The minister rejected the opposition leader`s allegation that the government was not giving due respect to the judiciary and said the prime minister had not claimed the immunity he enjoyed under the Constitution, and presented himself and his whole family for accountability in the Panama Papers case. `The prime minister has bowed his head before the judiciary and provided details of finances of three generations of his family, including his late father.

The minister said the PPP always wanted to get credit for sacrifices rendered by its leaders but it was not ready to make public the names of their killers. `The PPP wants to get benefits of Benazir Bhutto`s sacrifices, but it is not exposing the names of her killers despite having complete information about them.

Mr Asif said his party had rendered sacrifices more than any other party for the restoration of the judiciary and tendered resignations from the National Assembly in 2007 in this regard. `On the other hand the PPP enjoyed benefits of Musharraf`s controversial National Reconciliation Ordinance,` he added.

He said the PPP government in Islamabad sent packing the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz government in Punjab and enforced governor`s rule there only because the PML-N supported the judiciary and staged a long march, led by Nawaz Sharif, for the reinstatement of judges.

Referring to a case of assets of PTI chairman Imran Khan, the minister said those who wanted a thorough search of the prime minister and financial details of his three generations had failed to provide evidence of their 20-year-old transactions. `Today when his (Imran Khan) search is being conducted, he says that his pocket is empty,` he added.

The minister called Khursheed Shah Rungbaz (showman) and urged him not to give sermons to the government but reform his own party.

NA Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq asked the minister to avoid using the word Rungbaz for the leader of the opposition as it was non-parliamentary language. But Mr Asif refused to take back the word and said when abusive language could be used against a sitting prime minister in parliament then why he could not utter the word Rungbaz.

An interesting situation arose when the minister asked the speaker to give a ruling on the word but the latter was reluctant to do so. `I have to consult a dictionary for this,` he said.