Assemblies may whither earlier: NA speaker

ISLAMABAD: National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq on Wednesday feared that the assemblies might not complete their term, adding he was seeing a ‘greater plan’ in the offing.

Speaking on Geo News show “Aj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath”, the Speaker said that all the opposition parties except the one intend to see the government to complete its tenure.

“Disappointment is a sin but for the first time in my political career now I am disheartened,” Sadiq added.

He said that whatever was happening was not only damaging for one institution but for the entire country. The prevailing situation is not normal, but unnatural. Pakistan is surrounded by enemies, the Speaker maintained.

Sadiq said uncertainty was looming and has been fuelled by instances such as the delimitation bill not being passed.

The NA Speaker also expressed concern over the delimitation bill not being passed and said small provinces of the country will take the issue to the court. He added that if Punjab was ready to reduce the number of its seats for the benefits of the smaller provinces, the provinces will inquire and go to court as provinces are in agreement.

However, Sadiq said, the Election Commission of Pakistan has asked for time to go through the process. “Chances are that people will start resorting to the option of [demanding] resignations.” The delimitation of constituencies was decided in line with the provisional results of the latest census. The bill has already been adopted by the National Assembly, but the government has so far failed to get it approved by the Senate, despite repeated attempts.

The Speaker said this was the first time he has felt hopeless towards politics. Talking about the Faizabad sit-in and Model Town turmoil, Sadiq said the government could not do much as it was feared that even the slightest use of force would wreak havoc.

“I was not this upset even in 2002 during Musharraf’s tenure as I’m now,” he said. “It is not necessary that martial law disrupts the system, but Pakistan has been vulnerable in the past.” Our internal challenges are bigger than those of external, Sadiq said. “I always ask the political parties that the system should be strengthened for overall improvement in the country,” he said.

"I pray for the stability of Pakistan as our country is everything for us," the Speaker said. "We and our future generations have to live in this country. We are creating hurdles in the way of our future generation ," he said asking whether it was right.

Meanwhile talking to another private TV channel, Speaker Ayaz Sadiq said, “What is happening now has never been witnessed before.

“I am not an astrologer…I hope it [the National Assembly] completes its constitutional term but I don’t foresee it happening,” he told the host. “I feel something is about to happen… things are drastically different from 2002 and 2008.”

Ayaz Sadiq went on to say that continuity of the democratic system is pivotal for strengthening institutions in the country. “Everyone should give preference to national interest rather to focus on personal benefits,” he added.

Praising the Bilawal Bhutto-led party, Sadiq said that the Pakistan People's Party is a mature political party, and it always wants that the system should not be derailed.

To a question the Speaker wished that deadlock on bill on delimitation of constituencies should end so that next general election could be held on time.

“People of the country are real judge and they will have to review performance of the PML-N government in the next general elections,” he said.