Senior Political Leaders Agree National Assembly Needs To Shift Focus On Public Issues

Senior leaders from the treasury and opposition benches Thursday repeatedly hit home the point that National Assembly should focus on challenges, being faced by the public and the members should rein in their outbursts against each other

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 17th Jan, 2019 ) :Senior leaders from the treasury and opposition benches Thursday repeatedly hit home the point that National Assembly should focus on challenges, being faced by the public and the members should rein in their outbursts against each other.

Ministers Pervaiz Khattak and Ali Muhammad Khan and opposition members Khawaja Saad Rafique and Khurshid Shah while speaking in the National Assembly, reminded their colleagues in the House about the fulfillment of public agenda that brought them to the National Assembly in the first place.

Leader of Pakistan Muslim League(N) Khawaja Saad Rafique, who was in the House on a production order issued by the Speaker, urged his fellow legislators to shift their focus.

He pleaded with the government members to focus on improving education facilities, on alleviation of poverty and generation of employment instead of picking up fights with the opposition.

He said calling Names would lead the treasury benches nowhere and it was responsibility of the government to achieve something meaningful for the people.

Minister for Defence Pervaiz Khattak said the government was ready to sit with the opposition and come up with solutions of public problems.

He admitted that due to verbal assaults by members on each other, the atmosphere in the assembly had worsened and the institution of Parliament on which billions of rupees were spent, was somehow losing dignity in the eyes of the people.

He said he had been advising the members to stop offending each other and concentrate on issues of substance.

PPP leader Khurshid Shah, while taking part in the debate, noted that the government could not bring any significant legislation in the House in the last five months.

He was of the view that the government had nothing to show for its performance, nor could tell about an initiative launched by it for the benefit of common man.

He said sugarcane prices were down to the detriment of the farmer while situation was also not good in other sectors of the economy.

He said Prime Minister should come to the National Assembly so issues related to economy could be taken up.

Referring to the debate on agriculture that took place in the last sitting of the House, Member National Assembly Ibrahim Khan pointed out that prices given to farmers for commodities had risen over the years.

He said the farmer was getting Rs 4200 per maund for cotton, Rs 2200 per maund for rice, adding farmers growing potatoes in Multan had an agreement with a chips making company for selling of their produce and despite steep fall in prices they got the agreed price and were saved from the financial crunch.

He said fertilizer prices which were very high a decade ago, had also come down.

Responding to the speeches made by opposition legislators, State Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan said the main opposition parties had their legacy and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was the leader of PPP while Nawaz Sharif led PMLN. However, PTI also made its name by going through tough times and by offering sacrifices.

He said the mother of Murad Saeed was bed ridden for the last 10 years after she was hit by a tank mortar in Swat.

The minister said security institutions performed their role for defence of the country.

He said it was a fact that Pakistan was created by a politician Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and hoped that the country would be taken forward by the politicians.

Hr said every politician has to be accountable and the process of accountability should move forward.

He assured that Prime Minister Imran Khan will come to the National Assembly, adding ImranKhan was a leader because he was hope for the people who believed in his strength to lead.