ISLAMABAD: National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser on Thursday constituted a 25-member parliamentary committee having representation of all political parties to review, monitor and oversee issues related to coronavirus and its impact on the country’s economy.

According to an official announcement by the National Assembly Secretariat, the parliamentary committee comprises 12 members of National Assembly and 13 senators and it would be headed by the speaker himself.

The committee has been constituted by the speaker in consultation with Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani and in pursuance of the decision of the meeting of the parliamentary leaders held on Wednesday and in line with the request made by Prime Minister Imran Khan.

At a meeting with the speaker on March 19, the prime minister had asked Mr Qaiser to form a joint committee of the parliament comprising representatives of the opposition and the government to monitor the government’s war against the coronavirus pandemic and suggest ways to improve its handling of the issue.

The committee will comprise Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Minister for Information Technology Khalid Maqbool Siddique, Minister for Housing and Works Chaudhry Tariq Bashir Cheema, parliamentary leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Khawaja Asif, Pakistan Peoples Party leader and former prime minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Asad Mehmood of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam, Khalid Magsi of the Balochistan Awami Party, Shah Zain Bugti of Jamhoori Watan Party, Amir Haider Hoti of Awami National Party, Akthar Mengal of the Balochistan National Party and Ghous Bakhsh Mahar of the Grand Democratic Alliance.

Published in Dawn, March 27th, 2020