ISLAMABAD: The newly elected 329 members of Pakistan’s National Assembly on Monday took oath of their office, vowing to work for betterment of people and strengthening of democracy in the country.
The swearing-in marked the second consecutive democratic transition of power in the country’s history. Visitors’ galleries of the lower house of parliament were packed to capacity to witness the historic moment.
The maiden session of the assembly began in the morning with the members-elect standing up for the national anthem and recitation of the Holy Qur’an. This was followed by the swearing-in of the members.
Outgoing National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq administered the oath to the lawmakers-elect in the 342-member house. He then asked all the legislators to proceed to the speaker’s desk to sign the roll of members in alphabetical order.
Pakistan People's Party co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari was the first to sign the roll amid chants by the party workers sitting in the visitors’ galleries.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman and Prime Minister in-waiting Imran Khan also took the oath. PTI workers sitting in the assembly’s visitors’ galleries chanted: “Prime Minister, Imran Khan,” when he signed the roll. The PTI has emerged as the
single largest party in the July 25 polls with 158 seats -- but it is still short of 14 members in the house to prove its simple majority.
PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, who entered the National Assembly for his maiden term, was conspicuous among all other members. When he came in the house, Imran got up from his seat and shook hands with him, and posed for a photo
in the assembly.
Other prominent members who took the oath included Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz president Shehbaz Sharif, ex-premiers Raja Pervez Ashraf and Mian Muhammad Soomro, former Speakers Fakhar Imam and Fehmida Mirza.
Besides Asif Zardari and his son Bilawal Bhutto, other father and sons due elected to the assembly include Shah Mahmood Qureshi and his son Zain Qureshi, Pervaiz Malik and his son Ali Pervaiz Malik.
Former chief ministers of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ameer Haider Khan Hoti and Pervaiz Khattak and Punjab chief minister Shehbaz Sharif also made it to the National Assembly this time and took the oath.
Before adjourning the session, the outgoing Speaker Ayaz Sadiq read out procedure for election of speaker and deputy speaker, for which the candidates can submit their nomination papers by Tuesday noon.
The PTI has nominated Asad Qaiser for the coveted slot of Speaker National Assembly, and it has yet to announce a candidate for deputy speaker.
The 11-parties opposition alliance in the assembly has already nominated PPP’s leader Khursheed Shah for the position of speaker, and Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman’s son Asad-ur-Rehman for the post of deputy speaker.
Elections for the post of speaker and deputy speaker will take place on Wednesday. As per rules of business, the speaker is considered custodian of the house. He is also responsible for maintaining decorum and order during the session.
Speaking to media after the swearing-in ceremony, PTI’s central information Secretary Fawad Chaudhry lauded the “positive role” of the opposition members in the lower house of parliament.
“The opposition has played a responsible role (in the assembly),” he said. “The opposition should play an active role to run the proceedings of the house smoothly.”
To a question, he said that his party would try its best to come up to the people's expectations through good governance. “We are in touch with all parliamentary parties and ready to take them on board before making any decision for the welfare of the
people,” he added.
Members from the opposition parties said the incoming government of the PTI will have to deliver on its election promises and they would support it on all positive issues.
“We wish the PTI to fulfill its promises of good governance and improve the education and health sectors through investment on human development,” said Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, spokesman to Bilawal Bhutto, while talking to media persons
outside the Parliament House.
PML-N lawmaker Ahsan Iqbal said the PTI leadership has created high hopes among the masses in the past five years and now is the time that it should come up to people's expectations. “We will keep pressure on the government through peaceful
protest and press it to fulfill its promises of structural reforms in all state-run institutions,” he added.
To avoid any untoward incident, strict security measures were taken during the session. Heavy contingents of police and Rangers were deployed outside the Parliament House while entry of irrelevant persons on the premises was banned.
The National Assembly session will resume on Aug. 15 to elect the speaker and deputy speaker of the House.
Newly elected lawmakers take oath in maiden session of Pakistan’s National Assembly
Newly elected lawmakers take oath in maiden session of Pakistan’s National Assembly
EU leaders to reassess US ties despite Trump U-turn on Greenland
- Diplomats stressed that, although Thursday’s emergency EU talks in Brussels would now lose some of their urgency, the longer-term issue of how to handle the relationship with the US remained
BRUSSELS: EU leaders will rethink their ties with the US at an emergency summit on Thursday after Donald Trump’s threat of tariffs and even military action to acquire Greenland badly shook confidence in the transatlantic relationship, diplomats said.
Trump abruptly stepped back on Wednesday from his threat of tariffs on eight European nations, ruled out using force to take Greenland, a semi-autonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark, and suggested a deal was in sight to end the dispute.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, welcoming Trump’s U-turn on Greenland, urged Europeans not to be too quick to write off the transatlantic partnership.
But EU governments remain wary of another change of mind by a mercurial president who is increasingly seen as a bully that Europe will have to stand up to, and they are focused on coming up with a longer-term plan on how to deal with the United States under this administration and possibly its successors too.
“Trump crossed the Rubicon. He might do it again. There is no going back to what it was. And leaders will discuss it,” one EU diplomat said, adding that the bloc needed to move away from its heavy reliance on the US in many areas.
“We need to try to keep him (Trump) close while working on becoming more independent from the US It is a process, probably a long one,” the diplomat said.
EU RELIANCE ON US
After decades of relying on the United States for defense within the NATO alliance, the EU lacks the needed intelligence, transport, missile defense and production capabilities to defend itself against a possible Russian attack. This gives the US substantial leverage.
The US is also Europe’s biggest trading partner, making the EU vulnerable to Trump’s policies of imposing tariffs to reduce Washington’s trade deficit in goods, and, as in the case of Greenland, to achieve other goals.
“We need to discuss where the red lines are, how we deal with this bully across the Atlantic, where our strengths are,” a second EU diplomat said.
“Trump says no tariffs today, but does that mean also no tariffs tomorrow, or will he again quickly change his mind? We need to discuss what to do then,” the second diplomat said.
The EU had been considering a package of retaliatory tariffs on 93 billion euros ($108.74 billion) on US imports or anti-coercive measures if Trump had gone ahead with his own tariffs, while knowing such a step would harm Europe’s economy as well as the United States.
WHAT’S THE GREENLAND DEAL?
Several diplomats noted there were still few details of the new plan for Greenland, agreed between Trump and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte late on Wednesday on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
“Nothing much changed. We still need to see details of the Greenland deal. We are a bit fed up with all the bullying. And we need to act on a few things: more resiliency, unity, get our things together on internal market, competitiveness. And no more accepting tariff bullying,” a third diplomat said.
Rutte told Reuters in an interview in Davos on Thursday that under the framework deal he reached with Trump the Western allies would have to step up their presence in the Arctic.
He also said talks would continue between Denmark, Greenland and the US on specific issues.
Diplomats stressed that, although Thursday’s emergency EU talks in Brussels would now lose some of their urgency, the longer-term issue of how to handle the relationship with the US remained.
“The approach of a united front in solidarity with Denmark and Greenland while focusing on de-escalation and finding an off-ramp has worked,” a fourth EU diplomat said.
“At the same time it would be good to reflect on the state of the relationship and how we want to shape this going forward, given the experiences of the past week (and year),” he said.
