The government has decided to convene a session of both the houses of Parliament on Tuesday (October 14).
Adviser to the Prime Minister on Parliamentary Affairs Babar Awan said the session of the Senate would begin at 4 pm, while the session of the National Assembly would begin at 5 pm on Thursday.
He said that the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs has sent a summary to the President for convening the session.
Earlier, Awan held back-to-back meetings with Prime Minister Imran Khan and NA President Asad Qaiser to consult with them regarding convening a parliamentary session.
During the session, “important legislation relating to national affairs will be completed”, Awan said in a statement.
While Awan did not specify the legislation that would be taken up, issues that have been high on the government’s legislative agenda are electoral reforms, including the introduction of electronic voting machines (EVMs) and i-voting facilities for foreign Pakistanis, and a ordinance With regard to the powers of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
Last week, taking a pledge to challenge the newly introduced NAB ordinance “with full force” at every forum, the opposition had Presented A demand notice to the National Assembly Secretariat to convene a session of the lower house of Parliament to discuss the issue of extension of the tenure of NAB Chairman, retired Justice Javed Iqbal through a controversial ordinance.
Signed by 156 opposition members, the demand notice was presented under Clause 3 of Article 54 of the Constitution, under which NA President Asad Kaiser is bound to convene a session within 14 days, i.e. by 22 October.
The opposition presented the notice on the day Awan announced after a meeting with the speaker that the government had already decided to convene a regular session of the National Assembly on 22 October.
Speaker Kaiser last month Specified Seven Bills, including two controversial Electoral Reform Bills and one to grant right of appeal to Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav, are in a joint sitting of Parliament after the House cleared the proposals amid boycott of the opposition.
Seven bills were passed by the National Assembly, but could not pass through the opposition-dominated Senate within the prescribed 90-day period. The government, which enjoys a majority of both houses together, now intends to get the bills passed by a joint sitting of Parliament under Article 70 of the Constitution.
Thursday’s sessions also come as the federal capital has been hit by a fever in recent days. an estimate Regarding delay in issue of notification for meeting Lt Gen Nadeem Ahmed Anjum, Director General of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), visited by the Prime Minister’s Office.
Although the name of Lt Gen Anjum as the new ISI chief was announced by the Army’s media affairs wing last week, no notification confirming his announcement has been issued so far. However, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry on Tuesday demanded To put an end to the speculation, it said that the matter would be finalized through prescribed legal means.