MPs divided on PM question hour in NA

NA committee fails to reach consensus over PM Q/A draft amendment

ISLAMABAD: Members of National Assembly Standing Committee on Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business could not reach an agreement over the draft amendment making it mandatory for the prime minister to respond to queries and concerns by assembly members during the question-and-answer session.

Committee members from the ruling party maintained that the government for the first time had decided to amend rules through which it would be obligatory upon the prime minister to answer questions raised by the assembly members while members of the opposition argued that restricting the premier to respond to specific questions and ascertaining a specific day for the Question and Answer session was inappropriate.

Failing to reach an agreement, Committee Chairman Rana Muhammad Qasim Noon formed a sub-committee comprising four members to draft a consensus procedure for the Q/A session.

During Thursday’s session, State Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan while speaking on the proposed draft said that the Q/A session for the prime minister will have a specific day on which he would respond to the specified questions.

If the prime minister does not show up on the said day, the Q/A session will be postponed until the same day of the week that proceeds. The parliamentary affairs minister maintained that he wanted the questions to be responded within the assembly.

He said though the government wanted to impose it as a temporary measure, the opposition recommended making it a permanent component of the assembly rules so that every prime minister was obligated to follow the practice.

The minister further termed the measure a positive development and said that the government wanted the premier to personally appear in the assembly for Q/A session. But the questions for such should be in the written form so that the PM is prepared beforehand.

Committee member Shugufta Jumani maintained that limitation as such would restrict the prime minister. The PM must respond to all questions.

Another member Mohsin Ranjha stressed on the need to chalk out a method for the number of questions as well as the role of the speaker. He termed the measure a constructive step but suggested that restricting the session to a specific day is inappropriate. He said that the prime minister is a part of parliament and needed to answer all the questions.

The committee also deferred the issue of registration of FIR against MNA Abid Raza until his return while an adjournment motion demanding notice of complaints against secretary local government Sindh, deputy commissioner and police officials of Mirpurkhas was also dismissed upon assurance that the issues would be resolved.