LAHORE: Punjab Assembly Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmed Khan has opposed giving permission to the PTI for holding a public meeting in the provincial metropolis.

`The track record of a party should be taken into consideration before allowing it to hold a public meeting,` he said while responding to a question related to a PTI petition for a public meeting on Feb 8, during a media talk here on Tuesday.

Alleging that private property was damaged and innocent people kidnapped by the party during the previous public meetings, he stressed that permission for such a troublemaking party should be considered afterlookingatitspast character.

`Is it the character of political people to demolish statues of the martyrs, torture Rangers officials, and set ablaze the building of Radio Pakistan,` he questioned.

Answering a query regarding PTI founder Imran Khan`s reported letterto the army chief, the speaker said if he had done so, it`s against his own political stance (that the army must not intervene in political affairs).

Referring to the PTI claims of rigging in the Feb 8, 2024, elections, he said the opposition party had filed only 37 election petitions, while the PML-N had formed the government in Punjab with a difference of over 100 seats, which could not be covered even if all the petitions were decidedinfavourofthe PTI.

Therefore, he said, the PTI plan to protest on the issue on Feb 8 was baseless.

It may be recalled that the Speaker had in the last assembly session, ended on Jan22,requestedthePTIto postpone its protest in view of the twoday Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) meeting being hosted at the Punjab Assembly on Feb 7 and 8.

He said 100 parliamentary representatives, including 13 speakers, four deputy speakers, and one chairman, from 20 countries would be attending the CPA meeting. It woulddiscuss smog, terrorism, peace and regional cooperation besides other important subjects.

The conference is a golden opportunity to strengthen Pakistan`s parliamentary identity and international parliamentary collaboration.

The speaker also objected to the Supreme Court decision of giving reserved seats to the PTI though it had neither contested the polls on its election symbol nor had submitted a list of its nominees for the seats as per law.

He said if they (the judges) would indulge in politics while sitting in courts, the parliament had the right to protect its sovereignty.

Earlier, the speaker inaugurated a modern media hall in the new assembly building. He said the purpose of this media hall was to provide journalists with the best facilities so they could perform their professional duties in a better way.

He said, `Freedom of expression must be respected, but at the same time, the dignity of the state and its institutions must also be protected.