ISLAMABAD: In a bid to avert the repetition of mishaps like the arrest of MNAs from Parliament House, an 18-member special committee was formed on Thursday which will formulate a policy so that no lawmaker can be dragged from the premises of Parliament House and arrested.

The development came hours after the government and the opposition, in the aftermath of the arrests of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawmakers from within the Parliament House premises, unanimously adopted a motion agreeing to constitute a committee for resolving issues related to the house.

Among others, Deputy Prime Minister Senator Ishaq Dar, Minister for Defence Khawaja Asif, Khursheed Ahmed Shah, Naveed Qamar, Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, Sahibzada Muhammad Hamid Raza, Gohar Ali Khan, Muhammad Akhtar Mengal are part of the special committee.

An equal number of lawmakers from the treasury and the opposition benches has been included in the committee.

According to a circular issued by NA Secretariat, “In pursuance of motion adopted by the National Assembly on 11th September 2024, under Rule 244(B) of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the National Assembly, 2007,” the honourable speaker, National Assembly has been pleased to constitute a special committee with the following composition and terms of reference (TORs).

The terms of reference of the committee include discussing, analysing and "firm up recommendations regarding issues related to the parliament, parliamentarians, Constitution, the rules of procedure and conduct of business in the National Assembly, 2007 and smooth functioning of the parliament."

It is pertinent to mention here that the resolution, tabled by Federal Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, called for the constitution of a parliamentary committee comprising members of the National Assembly (MNAs) from both treasury and opposition benches to discuss, analyse and propose recommendations regarding issues related to parliament and its smooth functioning.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024