By: Muhammad Faheem Anwar
ISLAMABAD: Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, Speaker of the National Assembly, inspired the youth to work hard, be dedicated, and understand the value of respect for all in every endeavor, always focusing on and prioritizing national interest. In a memorable address to a jam-packed auditorium at the Pakistan Institute for Parliamentary Services (PIPS) in Islamabad, at the closing ceremony of a week-long training program with over 200 student interns serving at the National Assembly and PIPS, he encouraged students from all over Pakistan to believe in themselves and concentrate on their studies to excel in their respective fields and prepare themselves to compete among the best in the world.
Sardar Ayaz Sadiq shared the initiatives taken by the National Assembly, where the opposition was given appreciably more time to debate during the last budget session to enable them to critically put forth their recommendations to improve the economic outlook of the country. He also informed students of different initiatives his office took during his tenure between 2013-18, including the establishment of the first-of-its-kind global Parliamentary SDGs Taskforce in 2014-15 with assistance from PIPS, which is now followed as a role model by other parliaments worldwide. He is one of the founding MPs of the parliamentary steering committee that envisioned setting up the Pakistan Institute for Parliamentary Services in 2008-09, which is now a globally recognized seat of parliamentary learning. He also informed the audience that the National Assembly envisioned starting parliamentary studies as a discipline in country-wide universities in 2014, and today no fewer than 17 universities in all provinces are offering courses on parliamentary studies in close cooperation with the Pakistan Institute for Parliamentary Services.
Being elected as the Speaker of the National Assembly thrice, Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq is respected among all parliamentary parties due to his conciliatory contributions and passion for inclusive democracy in Pakistan. The proceedings began with the National Anthem and recitation of verses from the Holy Quran. Muhammad Rashid Mafzool Zaka, Executive Director, presented welcome remarks and encouraged youth to follow in the footsteps of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, to have unwavering dedication and passion to serve the nation, even in the worst of odds, as destiny rests on good intentions and resilient hard work, fulfilling our responsibilities with humility to serve our country. In a candid question-and-answer session following his speech with students, he reiterated to the youth the importance of being passionate about excelling in their studies and inculcating the habit of working hard in unison to serve Pakistan through the fulfillment of democratic duty, to follow and contribute towards the rule of law, and always giving priority to the national interest over personal benefit.
MNA Nosheen Iftikhar, who was recently elected as the President of the Young Parliamentarians Forum at the National Parliament, also spoke with students about the importance of voting and engagement in democratic discourse to suggest viable recommendations for the well-being of the people to the elected representatives. She expressed her concern over negative trends of misinformation and disinformation aimed at spreading rumors and pessimism among the people. She assured youth from Balochistan and Parachinar that she would take their issues for setting up residential schools in Qila Saifullah and engage with MPs from Parachinar for a peaceful initiative aimed at creating harmony among all religious strata of society. She appreciated the initiative of PIPS for their efforts like a bridge between people and the elected representatives, which is a great source of knowing and highlighting genuine public aspirations through the legislative and non-legislative initiatives by Members on the floor of the National Assembly of Pakistan. In the end, students of BS Parliamentary Studies from GCU Faisalabad presented a set of PIPS’ recent books to Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq and Hon MNA Nosheen Iftikhar before an enthusiastic slogan in unison: “Pakistan Zindabad.”
