Federal Minister for Defence Khwaja Asif, who is part of an 18-member committee formed to address house-related issues, protested to how the first meeting of said committee was being held.
In a video clip that has gone viral on social media, Asif can be seen saying that he is not here to listen to the opposition party’s sermons as he walked out of the committee room.
He is later pacified my Mehmood Khan Achakzai and others to stay and talk.
“You did not even let a man call his dying wife to ask how she was when you were in power”, he said referring to former PM Mian Nawaz Sharif being incarcerated by the PTI government and not being allowed to speak to his wife who was critically ill in London at the time.
Watch the clip here (courtesy Geo News):
Formation of the committee
In pursuance of the motion adopted by the National Assembly, Speaker Ayaz Sadiq on Wednesday constituted an 18-member special committee to resolve house-related issues.
The development came hours after the government and the opposition, in the aftermath of the arrests of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawmakers from within the Parliament House premises, unanimously adopted a resolution agreeing to constitute a committee for resolving issues related to the house.
Among others, Deputy Prime Minister Senator Ishaq Dar, Minister for Defence Khawaja Asif, Khursheed Ahmed Shah, Naveed Qamar, Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, Sahibzada Muhammad Hamid Raza, Gohar Ali Khan, Muhammad Akhtar Mengal are part of the special committee.
An equal number of lawmakers from the treasury and the opposition benches has been included in the committee.
According to a circular issued by NA Secretariat, “In pursuance of motion adopted by the National Assembly on 11th September 2024, under Rule 244(B) of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the National Assembly, 2007, the honourable speaker, National Assembly has been pleased to constitute a special committee with the following composition and terms of reference (TORs).
The terms of reference of the committee include discussing, analysing and “firm up recommendations regarding issues related to the parliament, parliamentarians, Constitution, the rules of procedure and conduct of business in the National Assembly, 2007 and smooth functioning of the parliament.”
It is pertinent to mention here that the resolution, tabled by Federal Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, called for the constitution of a parliamentary committee comprising members of the National Assembly (MNAs) from both treasury and opposition benches to discuss, analyse and propose recommendations regarding issues related to parliament and its smooth functioning.
The development came as the speaker presided over the lower house’s session against the backdrop of heightened political tensions following the arrest of several PTI lawmakers for allegedly violating the newly enacted Peaceful Assembly and Public Order Bill, 2024 about the party’s public rally held in Islamabad on Sunday.
Earlier in the day, the speaker had also suspended the House’s Sergeant at Arms and four other security officials for the security lapse which saw lawmakers being allegedly arrested by the Islamabad police and masked men from within the NA’s premises.
