Speaker reaches out to veteran opposition lawmakers

Asad stresses maintaining ‘candid environment’ in NA

ISLAMABAD: A day after presiding over a stormy session of the National Assembly on the occasion of the PM’s election, Speaker Asad Qaiser sought the cooperation of veteran lawmakers for running run the affairs in the assembly in an “amicable and friendly” manner.

In turn, senior lawmakers assured the speaker of keeping parliament’s sanctity and moving ahead harmoniously.

The speaker was among those who tried to maintain order in the house during the election to the leader of the house. Being the custodian of the house, the inaugural session was like walking on a tightrope for the new speaker.

Qaiser, who previously served as speaker in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly during the 2013-2018 period also struggled to maintain decorum on August 17.

Incessant sloganeering from the opposition benches left him flustered.

As the dust settled on Saturday, he reached out to senior assembly members, including Pakistan Peoples Party’s Bilawal Bhutto Zardari; Khursheed Ahmad Shah, Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s Maqbool Siddiqui, Balochistan National Party’s chief Akhtar Mengal and Shaikh Rashid, Shah Zain Bugti, Khalid Magsi and others.



According to a press note issued by the office of the speaker, the speaker talked with members on the awkward situation arising from Friday’s (mayhem) and talked with them to maintain a “candid environment” in the house.

Dissent, the speaker stated, was the beauty of democracy, but parliament’s sanctity was also important as “giving the opposition due share and time in the house’s affairs is among my priorities”.

Expressing the hope that decency would prevail in the house in the coming days in line with the parliamentary norms, he said the house business “will be run in consultation with all parties and lawmakers”.
Lawmakers reportedly assured the speaker of not deviating from the parliamentary norms.

Former NA speaker Fehmida Mirza and deputy speaker Murtaza Javed Abbasi briefed the speaker about their experiences and how to run the affairs of the house.

The first session of the National Assembly is expected to start after Eid holidays and members of the opposition, especially lawmakers, belonging to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), are expected to persistently pursue the politics of circumvention.

The plan to foul up the speech of Prime Minister Imran Khan in the house was discussed before the session started in the afternoon in a parliamentary meeting.

PML-N heavyweights and firebrand lawmakers such as Rana Sanaullah have the experience of provincial politics.

On the other hand, PTI lacks lawmakers with such expertise.
Similarly, lawmakers of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) will give a tough time to PTI lawmakers.

The speaker’s move to contact senior parliamentary members provides a hint that the party has decided to mend ways with members of the opposition in order to run the house in a better way.