National Assembly Speaker underlines media's role in strengthening parliament

Terming parliament as a ray of hope for people, National Assembly Speaker Dr Fehmida Mirza on Friday called upon the media to play its due role in further strengthen this important forum. Speaking at a luncheon, hosted in honour of journalists, she called for making collective efforts to overcome challenges being faced by the country.
The parliamentarians alone could not accomplish the challenges faced by the country as long as "we do not join hands to face these problems," she said. Dr Fehmida Mirza said that supremacy of the parliament strengthened democracy and democratic institutions in the country, and asked the media to play its role on this front.
"This is a positive sign that the National Assembly has passed 23 resolutions unanimously so far. Every resolution has its importance and it is the duty of the government to implement it in letter and spirit", she said. The Speaker also claimed that she always tried to give maximum time to the opposition members to express their views on various issues, as this was the beauty of the democracy.
The standing committees of both the National Assembly and Senate were elected by the parliamentarians, including the opposition, and there was a need to further strengthen these committees for early resolution of problems. The present government, she said, believed in freedom of expression and was providing maximum facilities to media persons to project the true picture of the parliament before the nation and the world.