Budget to be tabled in June 1st week

Seven sessions of parliamentary year and 81 days have been completed so far

ISLAMABAD:

The federal budget would be presented in the National Assembly in the first week of June, sources told The Express Tribune on Friday.

They added that the budget session would start on June 1 and continue for a whole month.

A session of the National Assembly would be convened before the budget and immediately after Eid to ensure that the House completed its four years of parliamentary term.

The parliamentary days would be completed by convening a session before the budget.

The sources said the next session of the National Assembly would be convened on May 9 after Eid.

They added that the eighth session of the current parliamentary year would be adjourned on May 16 after running for eight days.

The last session of the current parliamentary year would be held from July 25 to August 5.

According to the National Assembly calendar, seven sessions of the parliamentary year and 81 days have been completed so far.

As per the Constitution, the National Assembly must meet for 130 days in a parliamentary year.

On September 3 last year, then PM's aide Babar Awan had said the fourth parliamentary year of the PTI-led government would start from the 13th of that month, adding that it had been decided that the opening session of parliament would be held on that date at 11 am.

The Senate and the National Assembly would convene on September 13 in a joint session to mark the beginning of the fourth year of the current government with the address of President Dr Arif Alvi, he had added.

The third parliamentary year of the PTI-led government ended on August 12 without having a full-fledged debate on the president’s address in August last year. Though the address remained on the agenda for weeks but a proper discussion could not take place in the house till the last working day.

Resultantly, the motion of thanks, stating: “This House expresses its deep gratitude to the President of Pakistan for his address to both Houses assembled together on 20th August, 2020” was passed without speeches, making any amendments in the address and a concluding speech by the government side.

The last session of the third year ended at extending an ordinance – the Pakistan Civil Aviation Ordinance, 2021. Reportedly, the government passed at least 18 ordinances in the third year – a practice which the political experts say saved the government a considerable amount of work.

However, the practice cut short the contribution and diverse points of view of the other parties. Surprising as it may seem, the political use of such legislation was evident from the fact that a total 2,229 ordinances were passed between 1947 and 2019.