Heavyweights’ body: Asad Qaisar’s initiative good but unworkable

ISLAMABAD: Speaker Asad Qaisar has taken a good but impracticable initiative of inducting Prime Minister Imran Khan, leader of the opposition Shahbaz Sharif and former President Asif Ali Zardari in a new committee to make sure order prevails in the National Assembly.

The 13-member committee of heavyweights on conduct is a new idea introduced by the speaker, which was necessitated because of unending hullaballoo on the floor since the present Lower House of Parliament came in place over five months back.

“I think Shahbaz Sharif will (sic) no objection to attending any meeting of this committee, but the question will be whether the premier will show up,” a senior Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader told The News on condition of anonymity.

He believed that the committee was unlikely to be functional as it would not be able to hold even a single meeting and would turn out to be a non-starter due to the political bitterness.

The PML-N leader said that his party was not consulted by the speaker while constituting the committee on conduct, but claimed that a couple of other opposition parties were taken on board. “But still, we support this kind of forum to make sure that National Assembly hold normal proceedings.”

Imran Khan and opposition stalwarts Shahbaz Sharif and Zardari do not see eye to eye with each other and have avoided even a single meeting after the National Assembly became operational in August last.

After its formation, it was stated that these three top leaders might not remain its members and were expected to name their nominees for the body, but none has so far done so.

This is the first-ever parliamentary committee in Pakistan’s history wherein the heads of the three major political parties, ruling and opposition, figure. They are supposed to infuse good behaviour in their respective lawmakers to avoid acrimonious verbal tangle, disrupting the normal business.

Like his predecessors, the speaker’s preference is to have smooth proceedings so that the National Assembly transacts its actual business. He opted for big names so that the decisions taken in this forum are implemented religiously, leaving no room for deviation by any side.

Nine parliamentary parties have been given representation in the committee. Besides, the PTI, PML-N and PPP, it includes the nominees of the Mutahidda Majlis-e-Amal, Awami National Party, Mutahidda Qaumi Movement-Pakistan, Grand Democratic Alliance, Balochistan National Party, PML-Q, Awami Muslim League and Balochistan Awami Party.

Akhtar Mengal, Amir Haider Azam, Asad Mehmood, Sheikh Rashid, Tariq Bashir Cheema, Ghous Bux Mahar, Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, Shah Zain Bugti and Khalid Hussain Magsi are also members of the committee.

The speaker, who is the chairman of the committee, took the decision in the wake many walkouts by the opposition from the National Assembly apart from intense wrangling between the treasury and opposition benches in which he has always been in a fix. It is believed that he formed the body after consultation and discussion on its composition with his party.

The primary idea behind Asad Qaisar’s move is to get the rules of the game settled so that the National Assembly focuses on its real agenda – legislative business. The government has announced to make several laws to implement its programme, which will be possible only after it breaks bread with the opposition parties that its legislation also earns the support of its rivals in the Senate. The ruling coalition is obviously in no position to pass any law in the Upper House of Parliament because of its low numerical strength.

Until now, the government has taken even a single piece of legislation to the Senate for approval. However, the National Assembly approved The Islamabad High Court (Amendment) Bill, 2019, and The West Pakistan Prohibition of Smoking in Cinema Houses (Repeal) Bill, 2019--on Jan 25 and Jan 14 respectively, which will come before the Senate. They will become effective after their passage in the Senate.