All set for 16th NA to meet today

ISLAMABAD:

The stage is set for the commencement of the 16th National Assembly’s five-year term on Thursday with lawmakers preparing to gather in the lower house of parliament to take the oath and assume their positions on the treasury and opposition benches to formally initiate legislative proceedings.

In a late night development on Wednesday, the president signed a fresh advice for convening the assembly session on Thursday.

According to the sources, at the very last moment, President Dr Alvi signed the second advice sent by the caretaker premier and approved the convening of the first session of the newly elected lower house of parliament.

Despite his reservations, the president fulfilled his constitutional obligation by calling a session of the NA to put an end to the ongoing speculations and debates.

Earlier, the National Assembly Secretariat has convened the inaugural session of the lower house of Parliament at 10am on Thursday.

In a notification issued by NA Secretary Tahir Hussain, it was disclosed that Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar has granted approval for the session under Article 91(2) of the Constitution.

The decision follows consultations with the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs and the Ministry of Law.
The political landscape has seen a shift towards a smoother transition as typically, a parliament's duration spans from one general election to the next.

Read more: Alvi strikes defiant note on NA session

However, the preceding NA marked the third instance of a legislative body completing a full five-year term, demonstrating a seamless transition even though it was dissolved merely three days before reaching its scheduled conclusion.

This marked a departure from the historical trend where no prime minister managed to stay in office for the complete five years, and assemblies before 2008 failed to fulfil their constitutional terms.

Even though the assembly successfully concluded its five-year term from 2018 to 2023, it was punctuated by the unprecedented instance of a prime minister – in this case, PTI founding chairman Imran Khan – being removed through a vote of no-confidence in April 2022.

The void left by this departure was swiftly occupied by PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif, who, as the joint candidate of the opposition alliance at the time, assumed the role of the premier before subsequently dissolving it in August 2023.

Subsequently, the era of the caretaker government commenced, originally intended to span three months. However, it established a novel precedent by extending its term to six months due to the inability to conduct general elections within the constitutionally mandated period of 90 days.

However, the general elections were ultimately held on February 8, and amid allegations of rigging, they concluded with a split mandate.

This forced the major political parties to opt for wheeling and dealing following which the PML-N, PPP, MQM-P and others are set to form the federal government.

Also read: SIC chairman refutes refusal of reserved seats in letter to ECP

Once again, Shehbaz is the joint candidate of a newly stitched alliance of the PML-N, PPP, and MQM-P as well as others, and is expected to become the premier for the second time.

His previous stint lasted for only 16 months as the government had come to complete the term.

Despite the ‘hiccups’, the tradition of the NA completing the five-year term has been going smoothly since 2008.

Usually, the five-year terms are nothing less than a rollercoaster ride, and this time around the turbulence started even before taking the first step as President Dr Arif Alvi refused to call the inaugural session of the assembly on grounds that the reserved seats for women and minorities should be first distributed among the parties as per law.

The refusal prompted the outgoing NA Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf to call the maiden sitting of the lower house of parliament on February 29.

On that day, the newly-elected lawmakers will be sworn in to mark the beginning of the tenure of the assembly.

If the NA session is held on February 29, the schedule for the new speaker will be released on the same day after the MNAs-elect are sworn in.

Subsequently, on March 1, the papers for the speaker's election will be submitted to the NA secretary, On March 2, the speaker and their deputy will be elected.

This way, the process for submitting the nomination papers for the election of the prime minister is slated for March 3. This is followed by the premier’s election in the NA on March 4.

Subsequently, the Election Commission of Pakistan is then expected to hold the election for the president on March 9 -- just two days before half of the senators would complete their six-year term and replaced by elected new ones.