The coalition government has so far not been able to name chief whip in the National Assembly, following the demise of Mian Abdul Sattar Laleka.
Likewise, all opposition groups could not agree on a consensus opposition leader.
It appears the successor of (late) Laleka will be appointed before or during the next session, as current marathon session was expected to be prorogued next week after the National Security Council bill was approved.
On the other hand, the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD) and Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) continue to stick to their respective candidates - Makhdoom Amin Fahim and Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman - for the prestigious slot.
The names of former chairman of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly, Nasrullah Khan Dreshak and Chaudhry Wasi Zafar were under consideration for the slot.
It might be recalled that the quorum problem hit the proceedings dozens of times last year despite Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali's directives to the members and the ministers to ensure their presence in the House.
Taking advantage of mutual understanding with the opposition not to point out quorum during the debate on the Presidential address to the Parliament's joint sitting, the proceedings were held smoothly except for quorum problem twice.
It was agreed in the chamber of the NA Speaker that only during the debate on the Presidential address, the quorum won't be pointed out.
"This understanding saved the government from embarrassment on a number of occasions with hardly 30 to 40 members present in the House to take part in the proceedings", said Hafiz Hussain Ahmed.
Talking to Business Recorder here on Saturday, the MMA acting secretary-general, in the absence of Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman, said that generally speaking the treasury benches were rapidly losing interest in taking part in the even appointment of chief whip might not help ensure presence of minimum 86 members in the House.
He contended that the introduction of the National Security Council bill in the Assembly on Friday had united all the opposition parties again, which will add to the treasury benches' problems in the days to come.
It goes without saying that there is a big question mark as to who will be leader of the opposition in the National Assembly to fit in the 13-member National Security Council so far no clue would it be Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman or Makhdoom Amin Fahim.
The introduction of the NSC bill, which reunited the opposition, might lead to a consensus opposition leader.
Meanwhile, opposition sources said if under-represented, all the opposition members of the National Assembly would resign en mass as they did last year.
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