Lahore, June 30, 2025: The Punjab Assembly Secretariat has issued official notifications for the removal of four opposition chairpersons from key standing committees following the successful passage of no-confidence motions amid ongoing political tensions.
According to the notifications, Ansar Iqbal has been removed as Chairman of the Standing Committee on Special Education, Rai Murtaza Iqbal from the Professional Management Committee, Ahsan Ali from the Colonies Committee, and Saima Kanwal from the Standing Committee on Education.
The removals come in the aftermath of heated disruptions during Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz’s recent speech in the assembly. In response to the chaos, the ruling coalition has moved to dismantle opposition control over 13 standing committees—four of which have now been vacated.
According to sources, committee meetings were specially convened to table and vote on no-confidence motions against the chairpersons. These motions were passed with majority support from treasury members.
The motion against Ansar Iqbal was submitted by Muhammad Yousaf, Ghazanfar Abbas, Atiya Iftikhar, and Philobus Christopher. The motion against Rai Murtaza Iqbal was brought forward by Rana Abdul Sattar, Sohail Khan, Riffat Abbasi, and Zia-ur-Rehman. For Ahsan Ali’s removal, the motion was filed by Naveed Aslam, Ghazali Saleem Butt, Zakia Khan, and Ayesha Javed, while the motion against Saima Kanwal was led by Faisal Akram, Lal Muhammad, Jafar Ali Hocha, and Imran Javed.
Sources indicate that the remaining nine opposition-led committees are also under review, and further action is expected soon as part of the ruling party’s broader effort to assert control over legislative oversight mechanisms.
