IN an article captioned, ‘No one has the right to the Speaker’s chair’  published in another section of the media, I highlighted the fact that there needs to be a meeting of the minds for the governance of this country. This principled call goes out to all the parties in both the government and opposition. The government from past experiences would want to argue that they are willing to do so, but the opposition forces would not yield an inch. Be that as it may, judging from the way the electorate spoke on November 28 last, there must be a consensual approach to matters of national concern.
Discussions on the budget are soon to be held, before being drafted and taken to parliament for approval.
I can see an interesting situation developing here, with the governing PPP/C party calling for the support of the opposition to have safe passage of motions and bills. As it stands, the governing party as well as the combined opposition have 32 seats each in parliament (the Speaker cannot vote). This means that the PPP/C must win the support of at least one opposition member. In the event of a tie, the Speaker will have the deciding vote.