Members of the National Assembly on Thursday lauded the completion of the five-year parliamentary term and appreciated the role of both the opposition and ruling parties and vowed to strengthen the democratic process. The House suspended the routine agenda and Speaker Dr Fehmida Mirza allowed members to share their experiences.
Taking part in the discussion, Riaz Hussain Pirzada termed the completion of the five-year term of parliament a historic achievement and said that lawmakers of the opposition and treasury benches played a vital role in improving the people's lot by legislating in this regard.
Abdul Rashid Godil congratulated the members and praised the Speaker for her extraordinary role in conducting the business of the house. He said although parliament performed extraordinarily well by approving a record number of legislations, the government failed to properly implement them. Sardar Mehtab Ahmed Khan accused dictators of badly defacing the country's economic and social structure, he expressed the hope that although parliament failed to meet people's expectations, masses would continue to strengthen the democratic system in the next elections.
Yasmeen Rehman said that parliament promoted the democratic process, adding that next government would find guidelines set by this parliament. Bushra Rehman paid tribute to parliamentarians, particularly women lawmakers, especially the Speaker, for their vital role in the business of the house. Stressing the need for strengthening parliamentary system, Maulana Fazlur Rehman said all political parties shared common views in this regard. He appreciated the current parliament for performing satisfactorily on the legislative front and said that it had restored the Constitution in its original form. He said as far as implementing laws was concerned, he said that it needed to be reviewed and strengthened.
Among others who spoke on the occasion included Hameedullah Jan Afridi‚ Pervez Khan‚ Bahadur Ahmad Khan Sihar‚ Akram Masih Gill‚ Syed Nasir Ali Shah‚ Mehreen Anwar Raja‚ Farzana Raja‚ Shireen Arshad Khan‚ Begum Ishrat Arshad‚ Maulvi Asmatullah‚ Anusha Rehman Khan‚ Muhammad Safdar‚ Syed Zafar Ali shah‚ Mian Manzoor Ahmad Wattoo‚ Imrana Saeed Jamil‚ Saud Majeed‚ Farkhanda Warraich‚ Mehmood Hayat Khan‚ Tasneem Siddiqui‚ Kashmala Tariq‚ Gul Muhammad Khan Jakhrani‚ Dr Nelson Azeem‚ Himayatullah Mayar and Tasneem Ahmad Qureshi‚ Shaikh Salahuddin‚ Zahid Hamid‚ Dr Attiya Inayatullah‚ Nahid Shahid‚ Muhammad Rehan Hashmi‚ Tahira Aurangzeb and Nisar Tanvir.
The Chair announced that a two-month honorarium would be paid to the staff of the National Assembly and all allied departments who worked during the house's tenure. The chair also ordered the PTV‚ PBC and APP administration to also pay two-month honorarium to employees who performed their duties during the sessions of the National Assembly. The House was later prorogued.