Coronavirus-related steps: Sanjrani asks Asad Qaisar to use NA chamber for Senate sitting

ISLAMABAD: Chairman Senate Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani Monday wrote a letter to the Speaker of National Assembly (NA) Asad Qaisar to make the NA chamber available for sitting of the Senate to assume its constitutional role, taking all the coronavirus-related precautionary steps.

The Senate chairman also had recently tasked the standing committee concerned to come up with ways and means to make the Senate functional in the given situation, as all parliamentary parties had also called for the Parliament’s role in view the pandemic.

“In order to successfully preserve the operation of the Parliament during a time of global pandemic whereby the key functions of the Parliament as key legislative body are arguably most needed, it is crucial that appropriate, proportionate and reasonable measures be taken to facilitate this,” the letter states.

Sanjrani pointed out the NA Speaker said that globally parliaments had adopted mitigation and adaptation strategies to facilitate effective working of the parliaments. The Senate chamber, he noted, given the number of its members, does not permit adopting any physical distancing measures for holding session of the Senate.

He mentioned that parliamentary practices existed wherein the Chamber of Senate was used by National Assembly of Pakistan for holding the sessions when an inferno had destroyed the National Assembly chamber in back in 1993.

The Senate chairman continued that those were extraordinary circumstances and today again there were extraordinary circumstances wherein on the House of Federation could not hold session in its chamber. He said that pandemic had created unique challenges for legislatures across the world, forcing emergency provisions in parliamentary procedures, innovative techniques for connecting with citizenry and legislative actions on urgent relief packages for communities in need.

Sanjrani said, “In view of the factual position and parliamentary practices, the National Assembly chamber may kindly be made available to be used for sitting of the Senate to assume its constitutional role while taking all precautionary measures in view of the health advisories”.

“I am certain that together we will be successful in taking measures to protect citizenry and fight this pandemic effectively,” Sanjrani wrote to Asad Qaisar.