Unprecedented recess: Govt shying away from convening NA session

Precarious political situation, absence of NA speaker blamed for the situation

ISLAMABAD: A precarious political situation and absence of a National Assembly speaker have led to an unusually long recess of the lower house of parliament. Apparently, the government is in no mood to convene the National Assembly – at least during the next 42 days.

The opposition Pakistan Peoples Party is up in arms against the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, while Muttahida Qaumi Movement lawmakers have resigned from parliament and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf has been emboldened by the unseating of Speaker Ayaz Sadiq by an election tribunal.



PTI Chairman Imran Khan, who has often been criticised for his absence from National Assembly sessions, said after the election tribunal decision against Sadiq that he was “anxiously waiting to go to the assembly but the government is running away.”

Similarly, the PPP says enough is enough. It has already suffered a lot for its policy of political reconciliation that earned the party the blame of ‘friendly opposition’. Meanwhile, the government has been unable to persuade the MQM lawmakers to withdraw their resignations.

In the wake of complex issues the government is facing, it has not made any move or shown any inclination to summon a National Assembly session. It seems to have taken the tentative schedule of the assembly as a blessing in disguise.

The upper house of parliament faced a similar situation but the opposition requisitioned a session. The Senate chairman, according to rules, is bound to summon a session within 14 days but before that the government took the initiative and summoned a Senate session on September 14.

According to the tentative schedule of the National Assembly, the lower house is to  meet on October 26. The last sitting of the house was held on August 13.

“The Business Advisory Committee [having representatives of all political parties] had approved the calendar,” a senior official at the National Assembly Secretariat told The Express Tribune.



However, the recess which started from August 13 and would last till October 25 was given to the lawmakers due to the 61st Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference (CPC). The conference was scheduled to take place from September 30 to October 8 but was cancelled.

It was because of the CPC preparations that an assembly session was not scheduled in the month of September, the official said. Though the tentative schedule/calendar can be changed, the official confirmed that the government has so far not made any move to summon a session.

The third parliamentary year of the National Assembly had started on June 4 this year when President Mamnoon Hussain had addressed a joint session of parliament. The joint session was followed by the budget session June 5-25. Afterwards, the lower house has met for only 14 days.

The opposition parties in the lower house can submit a requisition for convening a session but they are visibly divided. According to the Rules of Business, 87 MNAs are needed to submit a requisition. The PPP has 45 seats 37, MQM 24 and the PTI has 33 seats in the National Assembly. They can jointly submit a requisition for a session, but they are divided and no effort has been made so far in this regard.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 14^th,  2015.