ISLAMABAD - Senate Deputy Chairman Saleem Mandviwalla has called for delaying the Senate and National Assembly sessions set to take place separately next week, after reports that several MNAs and staff had tested positive for the virus. In a statement Sunday, he said, “Reports of MNAs and staff testing positive for the virus are worrisome. There is a possibility that more people may test positive for the virus.” Considering the situation, convening sessions of the two houses of Parliament could have dangerous consequences, he warned.
After NA Speaker Asad Qaiser, tests of two members of the National Assembly, Mehmood Shah and Gul Zafar Khan, were declared positive. The MNAs were tested before the assembly session held on Friday. The concerned authorities had made it mandatory for all parliamentarians to be tested for the virus before the assembly session. MNA from Bajaur district of Kyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Gul Zafar Khan has gone into self-isolation after contracting the disease. A session of the National Assembly is due to start Monday and that of Senate on Tuesday. If the authorities go as per schedule, members testing positive for the virus would not be allowed to attend the sessions.
