Parliament House. PHOTO: NA.GOV.PK
President Arif Alvi was scheduled to deliver his maiden address at the Senate and National Assembly’s joint session today (Thursday). On the advice of Prime Minister Imran Khan, the president has rescheduled the joint session for Monday.
The PML-N had approached senior government functionaries and National Assembly Speaker Asad Qasier with the request to postpone the joint session till Monday due to the death of Kulsoom Nawaz, The Express Tribune has learnt.
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On behalf of Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly and PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif, senior PML-N leader and former speaker NA Ayaz Sadiq had taken up the matter with the incumbent speaker and the government functionaries, sources in PML-N said.
Shehbaz, who was in London to make arrangements for bringing Kulsoom’s body to Lahore, authorised Ayaz to take up the matter with the NA Secretariat and the government, according to sources.
Reportedly, Ayaz had cited the unavailability of PML-N lawmakers for the joint session due to their extensive engagements in Raiwind, Lahore, in connection with the funeral ceremony of the former first lady — to request the government for the postponement of the joint session till next week, which was eventually entertained.
The president’s address to the joint session marks the beginning of the new parliamentary year in National Assembly. Following rescheduling of the joint session, the starting NA sessions in the new parliamentary year has also been rescheduled to Tuesday in which the government would present budget for the ongoing financial year. Previously, the NA session was scheduled for Friday.
Speaking to The Express Tribune, former Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) Secretary Kanwar Dilshad hailed the government’s decision to have the joint session postponed till Monday due to Kulsoom’s death. “It is a good gesture to the opposition by the government,” he said.
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“The lawmakers not only from the opposition but also from the treasury benches would be attending Kulsoom Nawaz’s funeral prayers. Holding the joint session in such a situation would have gone in a bad taste — the thin attendance of parliamentarians would have caused embarrassment for the new president and government and it would have given the impression that the new president was not properly welcomed.”
Dilshad said the government’s decision to introduce new budget ahead of the by-elections scheduled on 26 provincial assemblies and 11 NA seats could potentially backfire in by-polls.
“The government should have waited till after the by-elections. The tough measures in the new budget will have a negative effect on the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI’s) vote bank in the general elections.”
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