Fawad Chaudhry throws weight behind virtual parliament session

ISLAMABAD: Science and Technology Minister Fawad Chaudhry said Monday the Opposition parties had opposed technology by opposing a proposed virtual meeting of the Parliament amid the coronavirus lockdown.

"The Parliament session is necessary but people's health is also necessary," Chaudhry said.

"The speaker [of the National Assembly] has contracted the coronavirus," he added, referring to PTI leader Asad Qaiser, who had tested positive for COVID-19 alongside his son and daughter on April 30.

The federal minister said he had earlier proposed a virtual meeting. "We don't go to the Parliament to hug each other; one has to talk, make speeches," he noted.

Chaudhry explained that he participated in a conference organised by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) alongside his counterparts from 93 countries.

"We're creating a vacuum by not involving parliamentarians in decisions of the Parliament," he said, stressing that that was not in Pakistan's best interests.

The Parliament, he added, had a role in the political sphere, which was why it was necessary to call a virtual meeting. Qaiser, the speaker, had earlier announced setting up of special software for the Parliament.

The Opposition parties opposed a virtual meeting of the Parliament and, in turn, resisted the use of technology, he observed.