Colourful flags fluttered on all roads leading to the Parliament House here on Monday while erstwhile National Assembly Speaker Amir Hussain administered oath to 325 newly elected Members of the Parliament's Lower House, and indicating to new legislators earnestness to 'pick up the pieces' and consolidate the democratic process.
After taking oath, it took the Members nearly four hours to sign the 'Members Roll'. It was understood that the new Parliament, having come into being after the election of February 18, was an independent one, because they 'openly proclaimed' the supremacy of the legislature. Both Naveed Qamar and Ahsan Iqbal stood up, after the recitation from the Holy Quran, to put on record that they were swearing the oath on the Constitution as it stood on November 2, 2007, and rejected the tampering of the Constitution after the promulgation of the Provisional Constitutional Order.
"Could you wait. No one could be allowed to speak in the House before taking oath," said Speaker Amir Hussain, in a conciliatory mood. However, he allowed Fazlur Rahman to lead the 'fatehah' for the departed soul of Benazir Bhutto.
In this way, the ceremony witnessed a peaceful transition of power to the newly elected Assembly.
The first peaceful transfer of power took place on August 14, 1947 when Lord Louis Mountbatten transferred sovereign power to the then Constituent Assembly of Pakistan. This fact established the supremacy of the Parliament over other organs of Pakistan state. It may be mentioned that the Parliament of Pakistan also enjoys five days seniority over the Government because the offices of the Pakistan Constituent Assembly began work on August 10, 1947 and adopted the Indian Legislative Assembly Rules on the same date.
Unfortunately, the tradition of peaceful transition from one Assembly to another has been an exception rather than the rule. It had not been possible because no federal Assembly, except the last one, completed five years term. However, this Assembly is well set to create new traditions. This it has done by nominating a woman Member from Sindh as Speaker.
Although the joint meeting of PPP, PML(N) and ANP in the morning, did not reach any conclusion, Naveed Qamar and Sherry Rehman said that Fehmida Mirza would be nominated as Speaker and Fasial Kundi as Deputy Speaker. Thus, PPP has shown that it is serious for empowering women.
If Dr Fehmida Mirza from Sindh is nominated as Speaker, it follows, logically, that the Prime Minister cannot be from Sindh. This eliminates Amin Fahim. In the morning, Fahim raised quite a tantrum because his name was mentioned with a former President, Farooq Laghari,'in quite a few posters displayed opposite the Parliamentary Lodges and the Parliament House. So riled was he that he could only say 'Pakistan Zindabad', 'Pakistan People's Party Zindabad' in front of TV cameras. Later, the posters were removed on his insistence.
However, Zafar Ali Shah and Sher Baloch said that it was certain that Amin Fahim would be nominated as Prime Minister. Also, a lot of desk thumping was heard when Amin climbed the Speaker's dais to sign the Members Roll. The two members also commented that the propaganda against Amin Fahim was a media concoction.
Be that as it may, there was a whisper in the galleries mentioning Ahmad Mukhtar, Shah Mahmud Qureshi, and Yousaf Raza Gillani as choice for prime minister slot. That could cancel what was heard earlier. Some one, probably a relative of Mahmud Qureshi, said in the National Assembly Library that he would be the final choice.
There was strong accent on security. Security personnel checked identity cards and passes of journalists as many as six times. In addition to police, and the elite force, members of Special Branch bristled all over the place on first, second and third floors in the Parliament Building. There were also reports of a man having been held, with a pistol, outside the main gate. However, that could be an attempt to strike fear in the heart of the large number of visitors who packed the Visitors Galleries.
The galleries were full for the first time after eight years, an indication of the people's response in the working of the Parliament.
Asif Zardari and Nawaz Sharif sat on the sixth and seventh seats, respectively, in the Prime Minister's Box. They left after the oath ceremony.
Opposition parties' members held their meeting in the elite Committee Room No 5, which is normally reserved for important meetings of the Prime Minister and the Speaker. This room was full at about 10.15 am. Both Shujaat Hussain and Pervaiz Elahi repeated their position that, unlike the conduct of the Opposition in the past, they would support the government in its good actions, and oppose it on wrong doings.
However, PML (N) leaders Nisar Hussain and Ahsan Iqbal voiced their fears that the Presidency was hatching conspiracies against the coalition, asserting that the President had met the PML(Q) and MQM members, secretly, at 10 pm on Sunday night.