Punjab Assembly: Govt to re-table 19 bills in 33rd session

Expected to move anti-PM, pro-courts resolutions.

LAHORE:

Governor Sardar Latif Khan Khosa, on the request of the government, has summoned the 33rd session of the Punjab Assembly (PA) for three weeks starting from January 19, The Express Tribune has learnt.

The PA prorogued its 32nd session on January 10 during which it passed over two dozen bills. However, the governor refused to sign 19 of these bills into law, returning them to the assembly with legal objections.

The Punjab government is expected to re-table the returned bills, including the Punjab Local Government Ordinance second amendment Bill 2011 that would postpone local elections for six months, during this session. The Punjab government may also move resolutions against the prime minister and president or in favour of the superior courts, sources said.

The parliamentary year runs until April 2012 and the Punjab Assembly must spend at least 100 days in session by then. So far, the assembly has spent 62 days in session, meaning it is legally required to spend another 38 days in session.

PA Secretary Maqsood Ahmad Malik told The Express Tribune that 19 bills which the governor had returned to the assembly secretariat would be reconsidered in the session. He said other bills would also be introduced and presented in the house for passage.  Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Rana Sanullah Khan will give a pre-session briefing on Wednesday.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 18^th, 2012.