ISLAMABAD: The government’s plan to convene virtual sessions of the two houses of parliament seems to have fizzled out as a general consensus emerged during a meeting of the special parliamentary committee on virtual session on Tuesday that the sittings on a video link would not be possible without changing the rules and amending the Constitution.

Sources told Dawn that in the committee’s meeting presided over by Minister for National Food Security Fakhar Imam, a majority of the members, including those belonging to the ruling alliance, were of the view that normal sessions of the National Assembly and the Senate should be convened after adopting all safety measures in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The country’s two major opposition parties — the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) — had already opposed the idea of holding the virtual sessions of parliament.

PML-N member of the committee Ayaz Sadiq participated in the meeting after his party leaders addressed a news conference in which they not only categorically rejected the idea of virtual sessions, but also dubbed such a move a “conspiracy to usurp constitutional rights of the people, their representatives and the country’s democratic institutions”.

“The government has proposed a virtual session of the National Assembly. The PML-N will not become a part of any such session nor will it support any move to call the parliament session without physical appearance of the members,” said the PML-N’s parliamentary leader in the National Assembly during a press conference outside the Parliament House.

PML-N, PPP vow to oppose sessions through video link

Former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Ahsan Iqbal, Ayaz Sadiq, Mushahidullah Khan, Khawaja Saad Rafiq, Khurran Dastigir Khan and Marriyum Aurangzeb were also present at the presser.

Khawaja Asif was of the view that if the federal cabinet meeting could take place with 150 members, including 47 ministers, and if the Supreme Court could function, then why not parliament. He said that when the executive and the judiciary were functioning then why the government wanted to keep parliament dysfunctional.

The PML-N leader said the National Assembly hall had a capacity of 450 people and this capacity could be further enhanced to 800, if the ground floor galleries were also included. He said the past record showed that on average 200 members attended the session and, therefore, with all precautionary measures and safe distance protocols, the assembly session could easily be held.

He said the people had the right to know the performance of their representatives and they needed to know if the steps taken by the government in the fight against coronavirus were dictated by public interest or political interest of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI).

The PML-N leaders said that when the construction industry and government offices were functioning then there was no logic in keeping parliament shut.

Video link technology

Talking to Dawn, PPP MNA Syed Naveed Qamar endorsed the PML-N’s viewpoint and claimed that even the treasury members in the committee agreed that virtual sessions of parliament might not be possible due to a number of reasons.

Mr Qamar saida that for allowing the virtual session they would be requiring to amend the rules and the Constitution and for that purpose, they would have to meet physically. Moreover, Mr Qamar said, the video link technology in the country was not up to the mark. He said that he had attended the committee meeting through a video link and those present in Islamabad were unable to hear his proposals clearly.

He was of the view that the government would have to ultimately convene the session of the National Assembly as some important ordinances were about to lapse. He said the government had informed the committee members that two ordinances had already been lapsed.

According to an official handout issued by the National Assembly Secretariat, the committee on virtual session has decided to invite the parliamentary leaders of all parties to discuss mechanics of convening the assembly session.

It says that there was a consensus amongst the members to hold the National Assembly session in the current situation.

They all were of the view that parliament embodied the will of the people, thus in the present situation, keeping parliament active and effective was vital.

The committee had been constituted by Speaker Asad Qaiser with the mandate to suggest amendments in the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the National Assembly, if any, for holding virtual session of the National Assembly during prevalence of the coronavirus pandemic.

Published in Dawn, April 22nd, 2020