PM Imran calls for convening Senate session

Imran, Awan discuss training programme for young MPs

ISLAMABAD: PM Imran Khan on Wednesday directed his adviser on parliamentary affairs to convene a session of Senate, days after the opposition criticised the premier for skipping parliament sessions called to discuss situation arising out of the pandemic.

Directing to call the Senate session, the premier said the federation was of paramount importance and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was committed to strengthen the national institutions.

In the meeting, Dr Babar Awan presented a plan for the training of young parliamentarians to the PM, explaining that the purpose of the training was to enhance the legislative skills of lawmakers so that they could play an effective role in legislation process.

Awan said the plan was to provide training to young parliamentarians belonging to all political parties in parliament.

Appreciating the programme, Imran said: “The PTI is committed to strengthen the national institutions and the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs has a key role to play in this regard.”

On Tuesday, the adviser had consulted the PM and National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaisar regarding a plan to fulfill the constitutional obligations to complete 130 working days of the lower house.

“I have consulted the prime minister and the NA speaker and now the summary will be forwarded for summoning the session, which is to be commenced from June 5 and will continue till August 13, and it will be marathon session of the National Assembly,” Awan said in video message.

Revealing that the opposition would also be consulted, he said the budget as well as legislation pertaining to the anti-money laundering bill will be done in the sessions. He said the upcoming sessions would not only be convened for fulfilling the constitutional obligation of completing the total working days but also for completing the pending work.

On May 11, during the NA session convened after a gap of nearly two months due to the Covid-19 outbreak, the opposition had lashed out at the PM for skipping the session called to discuss the coronavirus pandemic and the federal government’s handling of the outbreak.

Addressing the NA session, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari had slammed the PM over his “failure to lead the country” while the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader, Khawaja Asif, had termed the federal government’s response “confused” during the pandemic.



Criticising the premier, Bilawal had said that he was saddened to say that “our PM, who is also the country’s health minister, is not present in the session today. He doesn’t think it is part of his job to brief this house and people on the coronavirus.” He had reminded Imran that he was the premier of the entire country and “not just of PTI”.

Asif had slammed the PTI-led government, saying that it had no clear policy over a lockdown. “It is either black or white; there is no grey area. Similarly, either its lockdown or not,” Asif said, adding that a “complete lockdown” at the outset would have gotten the country through the pandemic.

In the Senate session on May 12, PPP Senator Sherry Rehman had declared the premier a ‘missing person’, saying she didn’t want to talk about missing persons but ‘there was a man missing here’.

“The missing person is none other than the PM. He is missing, his policy is missing, and his words of unity and healing are missing,” she had expressed.

“Where is the PM? Why is he missing? Who is running the country,” she went on to say. “He [PM] is not afraid of corona, I am sure,” she added, saying: “Why the premier was afraid of constitutional forums and parliament.”