Kashmir more important than CPA meeting: Ayaz

ISLAMABAD: Speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq Monday said Pakistan’s principled stance on Kashmir was more important than the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) meeting and will not invite the Indian Occupied Kashmir Assembly speaker to attend the meeting.
“We will not invite the Indian Occupied Kashmir Assembly speaker to the CPA meeting schedule to be held in Islamabad despite India’s decline to attend it,” he said while talking to newsmen after the launch of the National Assembly’s Strategic Plan at the Institute for Parliamentary Services.
“The Bangladesh Assembly Speaker asked me to invite the Indian Occupied Kashmir Assembly. But I without consulting the government and the Foreign Office and keeping Pakistan’s principled stance on Kashmir told him clearly that I will not invite the assembly of Indian Occupied Kashmir,” he said.
“For us Kashmir issue is more important so we have decided not to invite the Indian Occupied Kashmir Assembly,” he added.
The Speaker said three wars had been fought between Pakistan and India on Kashmir and the UN resolutions on Kashmir still await their implementation.
He told newsmen that the final decision of the Executive Committee of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association about the hosting of conference will come by August 15 and ‘whatever the decision we will accept it.’
He said even if Pakistan lost the right to host the conference, the issue of Kashmir will continue to be raised at international forums.
“If India did not implement the UN resolutions on Kashmir then how could it become a member of the United Nations Security Council?”
To a question about the return of the PTI legislators into the National Assembly, Sadiq said it was the duty of all the parliamentarians to ensure honur and respect of the house.
“What the PTI was talking outside the house, it did not talk in this way in the house. The real thing is what was being said inside the house,” he added.
Earlier, Speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq launched the National Assembly’s Strategic Plan (NASP) that’s aimed at transforming the National Assembly into a more modern and more efficient, transparent and responsive institution that is in line with the most developed parliaments in the world.
The plan has been developed by the Strategic Planning Oversight Committee (SPOC) formed by Sardar Ayaz Sadiq with the representation of MNAs from all major political parties.
Sadiq said the National Assembly was fully committed to accomplishing the goals set forth in the NASP.
He reiterated his resolve to improve the efficiency and quality of Parliament’s output and ensure that implementation of NASP will show high rewards in the coming days.
He informed the gathering that implementation of priority actions of NASP had already been initiated which include hiring of dynamic human resource through the Federal Public Service Commission and to ensure transparency and excellence.
“These actions also include establishing a Legislative Drafting Counsel to facilitate quality legislation, to expand existing portfolios of the Public Relations and International Relations branches to ensure Parliament’s accessibility and transparency and support PIPS in their delivery of support to the National Parliament, Provincial Assemblies and Legislative Assemblies,” he added.
Commending the efforts of the SPOC, Sadiq congratulated all the members of SPOC who contributed towards the development of NASP as a team of parliamentarians, with the collective objective of strengthening and improving parliamentary services regardless of party affiliations.
The speaker also mentioned the contribution of the European Union to the process of NASP development and appreciated their commitment to the strengthening of democratic institutions in Pakistan.
Six key goals were set under this strategic plan i.e. strengthen all aspects of legislation making it effective and beneficial to the people of Pakistan; ensure oversight at all times and across all platforms particularly for the parliamentary committees assuring transparency, accountability and judicious use of time and resources; safeguard the integrity of the assembly by improving its representative role; move from the traditional mode of working towards an automated e-parliament by undertaking structured reforms in Information Communication and Technology (ICT); strengthen PIPS (Pakistan Institute for Parliamentary Services) into a premier training and research institute for members and staff of the National Parliament and the four provincial assemblies.
To assure the implementation of set six goals priority actions are proposed to take including (a) introduction of an independent professional service cadre within the Secretariat (b) establish a permanent Integrated Human Resource Management Unit, (c) transform the Project Management Unit (PMU) with additional responsibility to implement the Strategic Plan, (d) establish a Legislative Drafting Counsel (LDC) (e) expand existing portfolios of the Public Relations and International Relations branches to include all aspects of dissemination and communications recommended in this NASP and (f) support PIPS in their delivery of support to the National Parliament and Provincial Assemblies. MNA Maryam Aurangzeb, an active member of SPOC, presented the salient features of the plan.