NA speaker expresses fear over assemblies not completing tenure

KARACHI: National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq, who is also a leader of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, said on Wednesday that he fears assemblies will not be able to complete their tenure.

While speaking on Geo News show Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath, Sadiq said uncertainty was looming and has been fuelled by instances such as the delimitation bill not being passed.

The NA speaker also expressed concern over the delimitation bill not being passed and said small provinces of the country will take the issue to the court. 

Sadiq added that if Punjab was ready to reduce the number of its seats for the benefits of the smaller provinces, the provinces will inquire and go to court as provinces are in agreement.

However, Sadiq said, the Election Commission of Pakistan has asked for time to go through the process. 

“Chances are that people will start resorting to the option of [demanding] resignations.”

Senate unlikely to pass delimitation bill today

The bill was earlier expected to sail through the Senate after ‘backdoor contacts’ between PPP and the ruling PML-N

The delimitation of constituencies was decided in line with the provisional results of the latest census. 

The bill has already been adopted by the National Assembly, but the government has so far failed to get it approved by the Senate, despite repeated attempts.  

The speaker said this was the first time he has felt hopeless towards politics. Talking about the Faizabad sit-in and Model Town turmoil, Sadiq said the government could not do much as it was feared that even the slightest use of force would wreak havoc.

“I was not this upset even in 2002 during Musharraf’s tenure as I’m now,” he said. “It is not necessary that martial law disrupts the system, but Pakistan has been vulnerable in the past.”

Nevertheless, Sadiq said, the government and even parties in the opposition — with the exception of one — want the government to complete its tenure. 

“Now it is for the public to decide who has the potential to make the country better.”

He added there is a need to strengthen the country’s system as “external threats are much bigger than the internal threats”. 

Pakistan Peoples Party has played a vital role in this as they have been saying since day one that the system must not be derailed, the speaker added.

According to the new delimitation of constituencies, Punjab's seat share in the National Assembly will decrease by nine seats, while Islamabad will get one more seat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa five and Balochistan three more.

NA seats for FATA and Sindh will remain unchanged.