Political misgivings: National Assembly speaker opting to stay aloof?

Dr Fehmida Mirza extends six-day official visit to a month.

ISLAMABAD:

Apparently annoyed with the party leadership after the removal of her husband from the key office of home minister Sindh, the National Assembly speaker is staying aloof as she has extended what was initially a six day official visit abroad to more than a month now, The Express Tribune has learnt.

Dr Fehmida Mirza, the first female speaker of Parliament, appears to be annoyed over the PPP leadership’s decision to remove her husband, Zulifiqar Mirza, from the office of Sindh home minister, allegedly under pressure from the MQM – a major ally of the ruling party in the province.

The speaker, who went on an official visit to Panama for five days in mid-April to attend the meeting of the General Assembly of the International Parliamentary Union, opted to remain abroad on the pretext of some family engagements.

During her absence, the National Assembly held an important first session of the new parliamentary year, and also held a rare closed-door joint sitting. Both were chaired by the deputy speaker, unusual since the National Assembly speaker and the Senate chairman typically chair such sessions jointly.

Sources in the ruling PPP said the speaker was not pleased with the PPP leadership’s decision of removing her husband from his ministry in Sindh. The PPP hierarchy had announced that Zulfiqar Mirza, considered a close personal aide of the president, was going for two-month leave. While he was being removed from Sindh cabinet, Mirza was tipped to get an important slot in the federal government.

Some PPP insiders claim that he was initially assured that he would be made Senator first and later accommodated in the federal cabinet with an important portfolio. However, instead the PPP top leadership made Dr Asim Hussain, another close associate of President Zardari, a Senator and subsequently the federal minister for petroleum.

These developments, some PPP office bearers claim, further enraged the speaker who is still in the United States.

There were reports that in order to appease the Mirza family, the PPP leadership was considering Fehmida Mirza’s name for the coveted foreign ministry that has been vacant since the resignation of Shah Mehmood Qureshi, who has also developed differences with his party leadership.

However, constitutionally, the speaker of the National Assembly and the Senate chairman are just below the offices of the president and prime minister, making the speaker’s office much higher than the office of any cabinet member.

Officials at the National Assembly Secretariat said the speaker will be back by May 26, two days before the budget session starts. However, some PPP insiders are suspicious of this claim and doubt her return during the budget session. The officials further added that the speaker, during her stay in the US, attended a function of Buddha’s 2,600th anniversary where she met UN secretary general Ban Ki Moon in New York. However, PPP insiders said that she has been spending most of her time in the US state of Michigan with her family.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 20^th, 2011.