NA speaker forms 36 standing committees

ISLAMABAD: National Assembly (NA) Speaker Asad Qaiser on Thursday constituted 36 standing committees of the House and also named their members.

The committees comprise members of the House from various parties as well as independent lawmakers.

MNAs were announced for the following committees: Committee on Rules of Procedure and Privileges, House and Library Committee, Committee on Government Assurances, Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat, Standing Committee on Climate Change, Standing Committee on Commerce and Textile, Standing Committee on Communications, Standing Committee on Defence, Standing Committee on Defence Production, Standing Committee on Energy, Standing Committee on Federal Education and Professional Training, Standing Committee on Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs, Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Standing Committee on Housing and Works, Standing Committee on Human Rights, Standing Committee on Industries and Production, Standing Committee on Information, Broadcasting, National History and Literary Heritage, Standing Committee on Information Technology and Telecommunication, Standing Committee on Interior, Standing Committee on Inter Provincial Coordination,  Standing Committee on Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan, Standing Committee on Maritime Affairs, Standing Committee on Narcotics Control,  Standing Committee on National Food Security and Research, Standing Committee on National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination, Standing Committee on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development, Standing Committee on  Parliamentary Affairs, Standing Committee on Planning, Development and Reform, Standing Committee on Postal Services, Standing Committee on Privatization, Standing Committee on Railways, Standing Committee on Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony, Standing Committee on Science and Technology, Standing Committee on States and Frontier Regions, Standing Committee on Statistics and Standing Committee on Water Resources.

According to a notification issued by the National Secretariat, a 20-member Standing Committee on Defence has been formed, which includes Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)’s Tahir Sadiq, Grand Democratic Alliance’s (GDA) Ghous Bux Mahar and PML-N’s Muhammad Barjees Tahir.

In all, eight members of the committee are from the PTI, five are from the PML-N, three belong to the Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) while one each represents the GDA, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) and the Mutahidda Majlis-e-Amal Pakistan (MMAP).

In the 20-member Standing Committee on Interior, nine members are from the PTI, five are from the PML-N, and three belong to PPPP. These include PTI’s Nafeesa Inayatullah Khan Khattak, Balochistan National Party’s (BNP) Muhammad Akhtar Mengal, PML-N’s Marriyum Aurangzeb, and PPPP’s Abdul Qadir Patel.

The 20-member Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, meanwhile, includes 10 members from the PTI, five from the PML-N, and two from the PPPP. Prominent names include PTI’s Syed Fakhar Imam, Makhdoom Zain Hussain Qureshi and Maleeka Ali Bokhari, PML-N’s Zahra Wadood Fatemi and Maiza Hameed, PPPP’s Hina Rabbani Khar, and independent lawmaker Mohsin Dawar.

PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has been named in the Standing Committee for Human Rights. His father Asif Ali Zardari, however, has not been named in any committee. PML-N stalwart Khwaja Muhammad Asif will serve as a member in the Standing Committee for Water Resources but former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi was unable to make any list.

The chairpersons for each committee have not yet been appointed. They will be elected from among the members at the first meeting called by the committees.