Transition: Fehmida Mirza calls new speaker’s election ‘historic’

ISLAMABAD:

As the country’s first female speaker of the National Assembly, Dr Fehmida Mirza passed on the proverbial torch to her successor Sardar Ayaz Sadiq after deeming the day to be “historic” for her.

“After completing my five-year term as an elected speaker of the National Assembly, I am transferring this responsibility to another elected speaker.”

“The election of a new speaker is a good omen for a democratic setup…he will enjoy unwavering support for his endeavours from me.”

After vacating the speaker’s office, Mirza will sit in the lower house during this tenure for the third time after winning a seat from Badin, Sindh. The outgoing speaker took the opportunity to laud parliamentary performance during the last tenure.

“The 13th National Assembly has confronted many challenges and deserves due credit for passing the 18th, 19th and 20th constitutional amendments and restoring the 1973 Constitution in its essence,” she said.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 4^th, 2013.