–Senate Opp members also submit requisition to convene session of Upper House
ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly (NA) is all set to meet for a rare but special ‘non-legislative’ session to discuss the measures taken by the federal and provincial governments to help deal with the coronavirus pandemic.
A day after the federal government and opposition in the NA agreed to call a physical session of the Lower House, some 34 opposition members in the Senate on Wednesday submitted a requisition to Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani to convene a session of the Upper House.
According to the members, the agenda for the session includes discussions on the federal government’s policy to tackle the coronavirus pandemic, coordinating a clear healthcare response and a clear policy to deal with the economic impact of the virus.
The agenda also includes discussion on the “impact of the virus on national security and foreign policy amid regional tensions, regression of the people of occupied Kashmir and apartheid-like conditions faced by Indian Muslims under the Modi regime”.
The Parliament House building is being fumigated as a special measure to protect the participants of the special session from hazardous virus. The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) would be directed to run special flights from Karachi and Quetta to Islamabad to bring the parliamentarians for the session.
According to official sources, all the parties have agreed to participate in the session while the recommendations made by the subcommittee headed by Syed Fakhar Imam have been submitted to speaker for formal approval. Following the approval, the recommendations would be implemented by all concerned. A summary for convening the session will be initiated by Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs and after approval of president, the session will be summoned to meet on Monday.
The committee, after elaborate discussion and taking into account the suggestions of the members and parliamentary leaders, recommended for holding the session of NA under strict adherence of health guidelines and standard operating procedures (SoPs) for ensuring safety of the members and the staff of the NA.
The committee recommended for restricting the three hours long parliamentary debate on alternate days to the measures taken by the government for curtailing the spread COVID-19, impact of the virus on economy of the country and measures taken by the government for its resuscitation.
The committee recommended that no non-legislative agenda be taken in the session, therefore, no question hour, adjournment motion, call attention notice and privilege motions be taken up for discussion. As far as the attendance of the members was concerned, the committee recommended that it would be prerogative of the parliamentary leadership of the political parties to manage the attendance of their members. It was also recommended that parliamentarians and staff of the NA Secretariat be tested for coronavirus ahead of the session.
The committee, keeping in view the entry of extensive number of visitors to the Parliament House during the sessions, recommended that entry of visitors in the Parliament House and Parliament Lodges be restricted, however, ministers may be advised to bring only one staff member with them.
The committee further recommended that Parliamentary Reporters Association (PRA) being the representative body of the parliamentary reporters may be asked to decide number of journalists to cover the proceedings of the sittings of the NA session. The committee also decided to recommend for plying special flights from Karachi and Quetta to Islamabad during the session.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) parliamentary leader Khawaja Asif agreed to withdraw requisition submitted by his party and its allies for summoning the session on the assurance of the Minister for Foreign Affairs Shah Mahmood Qureshi to summon session of NA in the next week.
Working out the modalities for holding physical sessions along with duration of each sitting of the NA during COVID-19 was on the agenda of Wednesday’s meeting of the committee. The committee deliberated upon the business to be taken up in the session, quorum and health safety measures/SOPs and special logistic arrangements to enable the members and the NA staff to attend the sessions.
The committee would submit its recommendations to the NA speaker, enabling him to make appropriate directions to the government for holding the session of the House. The meeting was attended by members of the committee and parliamentary leaders of all political parties in the NA.
The opposition had submitted a requisition last month to convene a NA session. On Tuesday, the main opposition PML-N had agreed to withdraw the requisition notice after the government announced that it would convene the session from May 11.
FM Qureshi had announced that the government and the opposition had reached an understanding for convening the physical session of the assembly under strict adherence to health guidelines and SOPs for ensuring the safety of the members and the staff of the NA Secretariat.
