ISLAMABAD: As heads of seven standing committees of the National Assembly (NA) were appointed on Wednesday, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) managed to get the chairpersonship of five of them.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Balochistan Awami Party (BAP), meanwhile, got the chairmanship of one committee each.

The committees that elected chairpersons in their maiden meetings held on Wednesday at the Parliament House are foreign affairs, National Health Services (NHS), communications, maritime affairs, finance and revenue, water resources and parliamentary affairs.

The meetings were attended by members of the respective standing committees and chief whips of the PML-N, PPP and Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC).

The elections were conducted by Adviser (Legislation) Mohammad Mushtaq and Additional Secretary (committees) Syed Jawad Murtaza Naqvi.

The Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs unanimously elected Hina Rabbani Khar of the PPP as its chairperson. Her name was proposed by MNA Ayesha Nazir and seconded by all members of the committee.

Similarly, the standing committee on NHS unanimously elected Dr Mahesh Kumar Malani of the PPP as its chairman. His candidature was proposed by MNA Mohammad Shahbaz Baber and seconded by all the members of the committee.

In the same way, the Standing Committee on Communications and Maritime Affairs unanimously elected PPP MNAs Ijaz Hussain Jhakrani and Abdul Qadir Patel, as their chairpersons, respectively, in their separate meetings. Their names were proposed respectively by MNAs Nazir Ahmad Bhugio and Khurram Munawar Munj and seconded by all committee members.

On the other hand, the Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue unanimously elected PPP MNA Syed Naveed Qamar as its chairman. His candidature was proposed by MNA Dr Nafeesa Shah. Similarly, the Standing Committee on Water Resources unanimously elected Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) MNA Khalid Hussain Magsi as its chairman. His name was proposed by Rai Hassan Nawaz Khan while the candidature of both chairmen was supported by all members of the respective committees.

Meanwhile, the Standing Committee on Parliamentary Affairs in a meeting unanimously elected PML-N MNA Rana Iradat Sharif Khan as its chairman.

After conducting the elections, both the officers congratulated the candidates on behalf of the speaker, deputy speaker and the Secretariat and assured them their support in discharging their official responsibilities.

After the elections, the chairs assumed their seats and thanked their colleagues for reposing confidence in them by electing them the chairpersons of the standing committees. They hoped that with the concerted efforts of the committee members, the committees would aptly play their role of parliamentary oversight on executive.

Published in Dawn, June 27th, 2024