Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif's proposal needs serious consideration. He has floated a proposal through which he suggests giving representation to overseas Pakistanis in the parliament through allocation of five to seven seats that are reserved for them in the National Assembly and two in the Senate. This would surely enable the overseas Pakistanis to represent the diaspora in the parliament and to highlight their issues effectively. His is an honest effort aimed at ending the political impasse that hurriedly passed Elections (Second Amendment) Act, 2021 and the Elect (Amendment) Bill, 2020 along with 19 other bills has created.

The acceptance of Shehbaz's proposal is likely to prevent the situation from reaching a crisis point because of the bad blood between government and Opposition.

Saghir Hayat (Lahore)

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021