Speaker seeks nominees for special body on rigging

ISLAMABAD: National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser has written a letter to all the parliamentary leaders seeking the names of their members for the formation of the Special Committee of the National Assembly to probe the allegations of rigging in the general elections 2018. The National Assembly passed a motion on Tuesday for the formation of the committee as the government and opposition agreed that there would be equal representation in committee while the chairman would be the nominee of the government.

“I had written a letter to all the parliamentary parties seeking the names for their members for the committee and once he gets the names, the committee would be announced,” said Asad Qaiser in a meeting with the Executive Body of the Parliamentary Reporters Association here at the Parliament House.

The Speaker said he had proposed that the committee should be comprised of 18 members with equal representation of nine members each from government and opposition. When asked about the Senators objection for not given the representation in, Asad Qaiser avoided the question and only said that he did not want to say anything on this issue at the moment. “It’s a political issue and I will consult the parliamentary leaders to seek their opinion to make any decision,” he said.

Earlier, speaking to the Executive Body of the Parliamentary Reporters Association (PRA), Asad Qaiser said all the policies would be made in Parliament and all the issues be resolved through Parliament. “All the issues either it be of foreign affairs, economic issues or all the other issues be brought in Parliament for the discussion so that the policies would be made as per Parliament’s guidelines,” he said.

He said Parliament will no more be only a debating club but will invite the experts to get their opinions also for the resolution of the people’s issue. The Speaker said it was for the first time that a prime minister comes who aims to work for the country. “We will turn this Parliament into a power base where people issues would be resolved,” he said.

Asad Qaiser said, “Pakistan belongs to all of us and all us have to serve it as per our responsibilities. We are because of Pakistan and all of us have to use all of our energies to put our homeland on the path of prosperity and development,” he said. He said the media is the fourth pillar of the State and it has to play the positive role for soft image of the country.

President Parliamentary Reporters Association Qurban Baloch briefed National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser about the PRA’s aims and objectives.

Patron-in-Chief of PRA and senior journalist Tahir Khalil briefed the NA Speaker about the working of the PRA and its efforts to create an atmosphere conducive for the parliamentary reporters.

He suggested organising workshops for the young journalists about the working of Parliament and their capacity building.

NA Speaker Asad Qaiser directed the National Assembly Secretariat to provide all the assistance for organising the workshops for the capacity building of the journalists for the parliamentary reporters. the House that Senate chairman had already written a letter to the NA speaker Tuesday.