"The opposition is welcome to speak on the Balochistan situation in the Senate. The government will not impede it if they (Opposition senators) abode by the constitutional and parliamentary practices," he said in response to a question.
The veteran parliamentarian maintained that the session had been summoned for routine business, adding there was nothing special about it.
It is worth mentioning here that combined opposition had signed a requisition, which was to be filed last week, however, the idea was dropped, after President General Pervez Musharraf summoned the session.
Different opposition parties have filed a number of adjournment motions, seeking a debate in the House on the prevailing situation in the province, with particular reference to recent attacks on Sui installations and the gang rape of a lady doctor.
About the agenda of the 19th session, Wasim Sajjad said that normal legislation would be done, which might include tabling of the Contempt of Court (Amendment Bill-2004).
Similarly, he said that some amendments in the committees' composition would be incorporated in the wake of separation of some ministries. For instance, Textile Ministry was now a separate entity, earlier it worked under the Ministry of Commerce.
Likewise, Ministry of Information Technology stood separated from the Ministry of Science and Technology. Therefore, separate committees would be formed, he added.
When asked about the delay in calling the sub-committee of the Parliamentarians Committee on Balochistan meeting, the Senator said that there might have been some delay due to non-availability of the members.
Wasim Sajjad, who is chairman of the sub-committee, stated that he would convene the meeting during the upcoming session, taking advantage of the availability of all the members.
The Parliamentarians Committee on Balochistan had formed two sub-committees: one with Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed as its chairman was to give recommendations for short-term solution to the province's problems and the other headed by Senator Wasim Sajjad was to prepare a constitutional package for promotion of inter-provincial harmony and autonomy to the federating units.
None of these committees has so far submitted its recommendations to the main committee. Both committees were given 90 days to accomplish their job. They were formed on October 7, 2004, hence their term ended on January 7.