National Assembly meeting: PM's absence, opposition protests

The opposition protested at the National Assembly meeting on short notice by the federal government while Prime Minister Imran Khan did not attend the meeting.

At a National Assembly meeting chaired by Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri, Member of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Assembly Syed Naveed Qamar questioned the urgent meeting and asked what the rationale behind the decision was.

He said that 'many members had difficulty reaching Islamabad from their constituencies'.

Former Speaker and PML-N leader Ayaz Sadiq asked the ministers the Deputy Speaker to postpone questions of all the members who are not present in the House.

Former Minister of People's Party Raja Pervaiz Ashraf also protested the meeting on short notice and said, "Many members are sitting at Karachi and Multan airport. People are not staying from Balochistan because the meeting is less than 24 hours away." Timely notice is sought. '

"Members are demanding postponement of questions while most questions are not answered in writing, which is a joke," he said.

Raja Pervez Ashraf said, "This is the end of irresponsibility by the government, the government has also increased the prices of petroleum products, and we are registering a protest".

He demanded that 'this House is not really representing the people; we want to discuss the increase in prices'.

Pakistan Muslim League-N Parliamentary Leader Khawaja Asif said that "Prime Minister Imran Khan had promised that he would come to the House to answer the members' questions".

He said that 'the Prime Minister did not come to the House for the entire quarter beginning in October, when the meeting was scheduled for January 10 but the government suddenly called'.

Khawaja Asif said that the government should maintain the sanctity of the rules and regulations of the House.

Responding to the questions of the opposition members, Communications Minister Murad Saeed said, "The government has already submitted an hour-long amendment to allow the Prime Minister a question. The issue is still being debated".

Murad Saeed said that 'difficult times have passed and the new year will be a year of development and prosperity'.

He said that 'the government is launching a sensation program on January 8 and all members should attend it'.

It may be recalled that the government had convened a meeting of the National Assembly on the previous day, even though the meeting was adjourned suddenly on December 16, while the advisory committee had decided that the meeting would continue till December 20 but it could not.

On the other hand, a Senate meeting was also convened, where opposition members, including volunteering, criticized the government's actions.