ISLAMABAD: Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, the outgoing speaker of the National Assembly, has vacated his official residence in the capital and has moved back into his own Lahore residence. However, sources say that the government does not want to convene a session of the assembly before by-elections are held in the former speaker’s NA-122 (Lahore) constituency.

The ruling PML-N is trying to delay the session because the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the National Assembly, 2012, stipulate that the house has to elect a new speaker in the first session held after the speaker’s seat becomes vacant, for any reason.

Section 11 of the rules states: “Whenever the office of the speaker or deputy speaker becomes vacant, an election to fill that office shall be held, (a) if the assembly is in session, as soon as possible during the session; (b) if the assembly is not in session, at the commencement of its next session.”

Meanwhile, the ruling party’s arch rival PTI has been trying to requisition a session of the lower house so that a new speaker could be elected. In this regard, PTI parliamentary leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi met Syed Khurshid Shah, the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly. However, sources say that Mr Shah turned down the PTI’s request.

PPP refuses to requisition early NA session despite PTI request

When contacted, Mr Shah did not divulge the contents of his discussion with Mr Qureshi, but said that the PPP had no plans to request an early session.

“According to the parliamentary calendar, the next session will be held on Oct 24 and we have no plan to requisition a session before this date,” he told Dawn.

The former speaker, sources say, was on cordial terms with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle and nearly all parliamentary parties in the National Assembly had declared their support for him when he was de-seated by an election tribunal.

In the interim, Deputy Speaker Murtaza Javed Abbasi is functioning as the acting speaker.

In a meeting with the outgoing speaker on the eve of his departure, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had asked the latter to choose any of his colleagues as the new speaker of the lower house, sources privy to the meeting told Dawn.

However, the PM also expressed the hope that Mr Sadiq would win the by-elections from his constituency, which are scheduled to be held on Oct 11, and will retain his position as speaker of the National Assembly.

At least 87 members out of a total of 342 are required to requisition a session of the National Assembly. However, the combined strength of the PPP and PTI in the lower house is 76, meaning that they could not requisition a session on their own, even if they wanted to.

India debate

The PPP also wants the government to take parliament into confidence over the escalating tensions between India and Pakistan in the wake of recent incidents of firing by Indian troops that have claimed at least 11 lives.

Five PPP members have submitted an adjournment motion to the National Assembly Secretariat, seeking a discussion on the recent incident of Indian forces shelling on villages near Sialkot.

The motion has been submitted despite the fact that no regular session of the National Assembly is planned before Oct 24.

Terming it an “urgent and serious matter”, the PPP members say they wanted immediate discussion on the issue. “The proceedings of the house [should] be adjourned to discuss the urgent and serious matter of continuous breach of Pakistan-India border by Indian security forces,” the motion says.

“Such unprincipled and villainous actions by India are further escalating the tension between the two neighbouring countries as India has breached several times the ceasefire agreement of 2003 between the two countries,” the PPP leaders state in their motion.

“By doing so, India wants to disrupt peace in the region. If the situation remains the same, it may lead to further worsening of ties between the two countries. This is a serious issue that requires immediate discussion on the floor of the house,” the PPP leaders conclude in their motion.

The adjournment motion carries the signatures of MNAs Shazia Atta Marri, Dr Nafisa Shah, Mir Aijaz Jakhrani, Abdul Sattar Bachani and Belum Hasnain.

Published in Dawn, August 31st, 2015

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