Members of the united Opposition on Thursday met National Assembly (NA) Speaker Asad Qaiser twice and asked him to give them in writing the terms of engagements, which should include a categorical statement that it was the government that approached them for dialogue, reports Dawn.
“We are going to communicate to the Speaker that he should give us in writing because we do not want to hear that we (the Opposition) have been pressing for a dialogue,” said the parliamentary leader of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) in Senate Sherry Rehman.
“The steering committee will consider further action after receiving legislation in writing from the Speaker regarding the bills and ordinances to be discussed in the joint session,” said Sherry. “We believe in the supremacy of parliament and dialogue but obviously, our leadership will take the final decision after the steering committee deliberations,” she added.
Former Speaker NA Sardar Ayaz Sadiq said, “The Speaker called me and Naveed Qamar and said he wanted the government and the Opposition to sit down and talk about the 20 bills related to the ordinances. We responded that we will talk to the party leadership first.”
The Opposition parties had formed a steering committee on Wednesday to formulate a joint strategy after the government postponed Thursday’s joint session of parliament.
The Opposition Leader in National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif and PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari termed the government’s decision of postponing the joint session as their victory.
“The hasty convening of the joint meeting and then the hasty adjournment shows the seriousness of the government that had made sensitive and serious issues like legislation a child’s play,” said Shehbaz.
Bilawal said “Kaptaan bhag gaya” (the captain ran away), sharing President Arif Alvi’s notification for the postponement of the session.
