PM Imran irked over non-attendance of ministers, secretaries

Heads of different standing committees lodge complaints with Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaiser

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan came down hard on ministers and secretaries for not attending the parliamentary standing committee meetings and strictly warned them to ensure their presence.

According to official documents available with The Express Tribune, prime minister in the last cabinet meeting had said that it had come to his knowledge that during important law-making, ministers and officials of concerned ministries were not attending the parliamentary standing committee meetings.

PM Khan maintained that the standing committees had a central role to play in law formulation and the absence of a minister or secretary affects the whole process.

The premier noted that in order to improve the system, strengthening of parliament and its committees was mandatory.

Sources said that heads of different standing committees had lodged complaints with Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaiser over the absence of ministers from the meetings after which he raised the issue with the premier.