NA speaker constitutes 36 standing committees

ISLAMABAD: Speaker National Assembly, Asad Qaisar, has formed 36 standing committees of the lower house comprising independent legislators and those belonging to different political parties.

According to NA Secretariat, eight members in each of the committees belong to the PTI, five are from the PML-N, three belong to the Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians (PPPP), while one each represents the GDA, the Mutahidda Majlis-i-Amal Pakistan (MMAP), the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement.

A 20-member Standing Committee on Defence includes Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI)’s Tahir Sadiq, Grand Democratic Alliance’s (GDA) Ghous Bux Mahar and PML-N’s Muhammad Barjees Tahir.

PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has been named in the Standing Committee for Human Rights. Similarly, PML-N leader Khwaja Muhammad Asif has also been nominated as a member in the Standing Committee for Water Resources.

While 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, consists of 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.

However, none of the chairpersons of the respective committees has been appointed. They will be elected by members at the first meeting called by the committees.