— Flag hoisting ceremony likely to be held at Parliament House after 17-year gap
Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani has invited President Mamnoon Hussain and Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi to lay a wreath at the memorial built in the Parliament House, prior to the flag hoisting ceremony to be held on August 14.
He had personally spoken to the prime minister in this regard who agreed in principle to lay the wreath along with the president. The prime minister while agreeing with the proposal had approved to shift the flag hoisting ceremony to the Parliament House after a gap of 17 years.
The prime minister personally confirmed the arrangements to the Senate chairman followed by official letter from the secretary to the prime minister. Rabbani in the letter to the prime minister dated June 19, 2017, had suggested that the flag hoisting ceremony on August 14, 2017, should be held in the precincts of the Parliament House instead of the Convention Centre.
The Senate chairman emphasised that during the democratic governments, the flag hoisting event was organised in the parliamentary precincts in order to portray that the state was exercising the powers and authority through its chosen representatives, whereas, dictators made attempts to filch the mandate of the people by taking the ceremony behind the closed doors.
Rabbani further qualified that the National Assembly speaker was already on board with respect to said proposal. On the direction of the Senate chairman, the Senate secretary sent a reminder on August 8, 2017, to the Prime Minister’s Office to seek response with regard to a letter of the chairman dated June 19, 2017.