NA body on virtual session invites parliamentary leaders for meeting

ISLAMABAD: Chairman of the committee on virtual session of the National Assembly during the COVID-19 Syed Fakhar Imran has invited parliamentary leaders to a meeting of the committee scheduled to be held at on Wednesday (April 29) in the Parliament House.

In his missive to the parliamentary leaders, the chairman informed that the committee in its meeting held on April 21 unanimously resolved to hold physical session of the National Assembly instead of virtual session. He further informed that the committee also decided to consult parliamentary leaders in the National Assembly to further discuss the agenda and modalities of the National Assembly session during coronavirus.

The chairman in his letter requested the parliamentary leaders to make it convenient to attend the meeting for further discussion on agenda and to decide modalities/working of the National Assembly session during COVID-19.

The invitations extended to the leaders from the opposition include PPP leader Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, PML-N's Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Asad Mahmood from Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal and Amir Haider Hoti from the ANP.

The invitations extended to leaders from treasury include PTI Deputy Parliamentary Leader Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Qureshi, GDA's Ghous Bakhsh Mehr, Ch Tariq Bashir Cheema from the PML-Q, Khalid Hussain Magsi from BAP, Muhammad Akhtar Mengal from BNP, Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui from the MQM-Pakistan, AML's Sheikh Rashid Ahmed and Nawabzada Shahzain Bugti from JWP.

Parliamentary leaders invited for consultation will attend the meeting via video link.

The committee, after consulting with parliamentary leaders, will present its recommendations to the speaker of the National Assembly for holding a virtual session of the National Assembly or otherwise.

The committee on virtual session was constituted by the speaker with the mandate to suggest amendments in the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the National Assembly 2007 if any for holding virtual session of the National Assembly during prevalence of the coronavirus pandemic.