Joint sitting of parliament put off till Oct 20

National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf on Friday put off the joint sitting of parliament scheduled to be held on September 22 for unknown reasons.

The joint sitting will now be held on October 20.

The NA speaker rescheduled the session in exercise of powers conferred by proviso to Rule 4 of the Parliament (Joint Sittings) Rules 1973.

This is for the third time that the speaker has done so without offering any reason for his act.

Rule 4 of the Parliament (Joint Sittings) Rules 1973, states: “The speaker shall determine when a joint sitting shall be adjourned sine die or to a particular day, or to an hour of the same day: provided that the speaker may, if he thinks fit, call a joint sitting before the date or time to which it has been adjourned or at any time after the joint sitting has been adjourned sine die.”

It is pertinent to note that the last joint sitting of the parliament was held on June 9, which saw the government passing “controversial” electoral reforms and the accountability laws after President Dr Arif Alvi refused to green-light both laws despite their passage by the National Assembly and the Senate.

Also read: President to address joint sitting on Oct 3

The amendments to the Elections Act, 2017, sought to bar the use of electronic voting machines in the next general elections and those to the National Accountability Bureau (Amendment) Act were aimed at preventing the misuse of law for political engineering and victimisation of political opponents.

Instead of proroguing the joint sitting, the speaker adjourned it till July 20. However, on July 18, the speaker postponed it till August 22 without offering reason.

Later, it was put off till September 22.

The present National Assembly had come into existence following the 2018 general elections.

It has already entered its last parliamentary year after completing its four-year term on August 12.

During the fourth parliamentary year, the lower house of the parliament passed some 55 bills, taking the total number of bills passed by the present assembly to 155.