ISLAMABAD: National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq has formed an 18-member special committee to resolve matters related to the Parliament House in pursuance of the motion adopted in the lower house on Wednesday.
The development came after the government and the opposition unanimously adopted a resolution approving the formation of a committee for resolving issues related to the house in the wake of the arrests of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawmakers from within the Parliament House premises on September 8.
The special committee is comprised of 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 and Muhammad Akhtar Mengal, among others.
An equal number of lawmakers from the treasury and the opposition benches have 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.
Speaking during the NA session on Wednesday, Speaker Ayaz Sadiq recalled PTI founder Imran Khan's premiership and lamented the denial of production orders by the then-speaker Asad Qaiser.
The PTI government didn't issue production orders for our members during its tenure, Sadiq said.
However, he maintained that "two wrongs did not make a right" and remarked: "I do not agree what your [PTI] government's actions. Not issuing production orders was not the right thing to do then [and] it is not the right thing to do now".
"I will do what is appropriate, what is required and what is necessary for [upholding] the parliament's respect," he added.
The speaker further said that he would try to get to the bottom of what happened.
A committee shall be constituted today so that the work commences from the same day, Sadiq remarked while inviting PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar to meet him after the assembly's session is adjourned.
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