Standing committees: Govt, opposition stay put

ISLAMABAD: No talks are being held between the government and opposition parties to break the stalemate on the constitution of standing committees of the National Assembly.

Prime Minister Imran Khan has formed a two-member committee comprising Speaker Asad Qaisar and Defence Minister Pervaiz Khattak to hold talks with the opposition to break the ice but the process has not moved forward even slightly.

“The Speaker held a meeting with Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaders Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, Rana Sanaullah and Rana Tanvir, and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) stalwart Syed Navid Qamar three days ago on this subject, but the real issue was not even discussed,” a participant told The News.

Khattak was scheduled to attend the session but could not reach because his car broke down while coming to the meeting. Four issues, the participant said, were talked about. One was how to run the National Assembly smoothly. The second was the formation of an ethics committee for the purpose. The third matter mulled over was Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani’s ruling barring Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry from attending the last couple of days of the last session of the Upper House.

The fourth issue that was considered was the amendments in the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO) 1999. However, there was no meaningful discussion on it. However, it was clear that both sides wanted to alter the law.

The opposition is keen to change the NAO to get rid of its vindictive aspect while the government wants to strengthen and make it further stringent.

Ayaz Sadiq said that as the Speaker he had once debarred a member, Asadur Rehman, of his party but the ban was approved by the House.

He said the motion had been approved by all MPs except one.

Similarly, he said, the Senate chairman should also have taken the permission of the House to prohibit the entry of the information minister.

It was agreed to form the ethics committee but it was made clear that the forum will be able to enforce discipline only when both sides will cooperate and refrain from provoking each other. If one side will incite, the other will respond in the same vein, it transpired.

The participant said that the Speaker’s main concern was to have orderliness and smooth sailing of the House so that the business was not affected. Asad Qaisar told the attendees that unruliness would not be tolerated especially when the legislative business would be transacted.

The Speaker said that he would arrange another meeting in the next few days when the issue of forming the House committees would be taken up. The National Assembly opens its next session on December 10.

The government-opposition row has been caused with the insistence of the former to get Leader of the Opposition Shahbaz Sharif named as the chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) while the latter has refused to accept him come what may.

The government side has warned that if the opposition did not change its stand, it would form the House committees comprising only the ruling coalition MPs. The treasury has opined that there is no bar in the law or rules in constituting the House bodies this way.