Parliament’s joint session adjourned due to quorum

National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf on Tuesday adjourned the joint session of the parliament due to the consistent "absence of the ministers" concerned from the house.

Some lawmakers took great exception to the nonchalant behaviour of the ministers for not showing up, with many saying that it was an exercise in futile to hold sessions and waste money.

Sardar Riaz Mehmood Khan Mazari said it was better to dissolve the assembly rather than address “an empty house”.

The speaker said the following motion was brought by Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Murtaza Javed Abbasi to discuss at large and find ways to adequately deal with the national issues.

He further said there were eight important agendas being discussed pertaining to eight different ministries, therefore, all the ministers concerned should show their presence in the house.

He said it was not appropriate that the respective members were speaking on the agenda items. Still, none of the ministers and officials from the ministries concerned was available in the visitors' gallery to take notes.

PML-N MNA Saad Waseem Sheikh agreed with the concerns of his respective colleagues and the NA speaker and urged the chair to adjourn the session this time.

He assured the house that all the ministers concerned would be available on the house floor by the next session.

To this assurance, the NA speaker adjourned the joint sitting of the Senate and National Assembly to meet again on February 28.