Parliamentary committee formed to oversee virus containment measures

ISLAMABAD: National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser on Thursday formed a parliamentary committee comprising members of both the upper and lower houses of parliament to monitor the government’s measures to tackle the coronavirus crisis.

The speaker formed the committee after consultations with Prime Minister Imran Khan and opposition leaders.

The committee comprising 13 members of the Senate and 12 of the National Assembly will assess and monitor the government’s response to the COVID-19 crisis. It will also take stock of the adverse impact of the coronavirus outbreak on the country’s economy.

Defence Minister Pervez Khattak, Planning Minister Asad Umar, Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Azam Swati, Adviser to the PM on Finance Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, Special Assistant to the PM on Health Dr Zafar Mirza are part of the committee.

Among other members of the committee are Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Railway Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed, MQM-P’s Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, PML-Q’s Tariq Bashir Cheema, PPP’s Ghaus Baksh Mahar and Pervez Ashraf.

The Senators part of the committee include Leader of the House in the Senate Shibli Faraz, PML-N’s Mushahidullah, Sitara Ayaz, JUI-F’s Ghafoor Haideri, National Party leader Mir Hasil Bizenjo, and JI chief Sirajul Haq.

Sherry Rehman, Usman Kakar, Jahanzeb Khan, Jamaluddin, Muzaffar Shah, Aurangzeb Khan are also part of the committee.