Govt likely to summon parliament’s joint sitting next week

Ruling party scrambling to salvage its wide-ranging electoral reforms

ISLAMABAD:

The government is expected to summon its long-overdue joint session of parliament next week to push its wide-ranging electoral reforms bills, sources said on Friday.

In yet another attempt to reach across the political aisle and persuade allies for the passage of the controversial Elections (Second Amendment) Bill, 2021, the beleaguered ruling party is asking its lawmakers in both houses to gear up for the upcoming session.

Earlier on Wednesday, the government put off Thursday’s joint session of parliament within 24 hours of its summoning due to a lack of required numbers of its lawmakers and reservations relayed by its own allies.

The decision was met with severe criticism from the opposition who alleged that the government was “trifling” with the parliament’s businesses and deciding on important sittings on “whims”.

Appearing to have sorted out all impediments, sources said, the government is now holding talks with its allies as well to back its electoral reforms.

On the other hand, the opposition parties, already scrambling to formulate a joint strategy against the government inside the parliament, have also urged their lawmakers to keep vigilant in case any urgent session of the parliament is called.

According to sources, parliamentarians from all major opposition parties, including Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan Peoples Party (PTI) and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) have been directed to stay in Islamabad.

As for those who are currently out of town, the opposition has advised them to return as soon as possible. The opposition has taken this step in view to foil the government’s “covert” attempts to get its agenda taken up in the absence of strong opposition.