LAHORE, Feb 26: About 130 provincial legislators held a session on Thursday on the stairs of the Punjab assembly building because the gates had been locked, and passed a resolution asking President Asif Ali Zardari to resign for having “created a constitutional and political crisis in the country”.

Speaker Rana Iqbal Ahmad Khan, who had adjourned the session on Wednesday till 10am on Thursday, reached the assembly to find the building locked and around 15 MPAs rounded up by police.

Police also tried to ‘arrest’ the speaker but the assembly’s security staff came to his help.

When another 50 MPAs arrived, police retreated and freed the detained legislators.

Police had built barbed wire barricades around the building in the morning, but removed it when the MPAs led by the speaker tried to cross them.

The speaker stopped the MPAs from breaking the lock and entering the building and convened the session on the stairs.

He told Dawn later: “I am the custodian of the house and the entire assembly premises fall under my jurisdiction. I have no idea when and how the building was locked and how many of the staff and MPAs were inside. I will soon order an inquiry into the whole affair.”

Rana Sanaullah tabled a privilege motion terming the locking of the building “an insult to the members and the entire house”.

The members unanimously decided to hand over the motion to the house privilege committee.

They demanded resignation of President Zardari for creating a constitutional, social and political crisis.

“The presidential steps — influencing the court verdict and imposing governor’s rule — have created every sort of crises in the country,” said Rana Sanaullah. The resolution said that the president had lost the moral authority to rule the country and must quit.

The speaker termed the locking of the building a “totally unconstitutional and immoral step, which is highly regrettable”.

“The assembly has neither been dissolved nor suspended. Even in both cases, the speaker retains office and remains custodian of the house. Locking doors without my orders is illegal,” he said.

Talking to journalists during a break in the session, Rana Sanaullah said the locking of the assembly building and imposition of governor’s rule proved that the Pakistan People’s Party planned to indulge in ‘horse-trading’, because it lacked the numerical strength to get its own man elected as leader of the house.

“If the government closes constitutional channels for peaceful protests, the party has no other option but to take to the street,” he said.