Allies assure PM Shehbaz of support in upcoming legislation

ISLAMABAD: Coalition partners in the centre on Monday ‘assured’ Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif of their all-out support for ‘important’ legislation in parliament in the coming days, ARY News reported citing sources.

PM Shehbaz hosted a dinner in honour of coalition partners with representatives of all parties in the centre except the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) attending the event.

The PPP has excused from attending the dinner, a same meeting at the President’s House as the reason for their absence.

The representatives of Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Balochistan Awami Party (BAP), Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP) attended the event.

The sources said PM Shehbaz sought their cooperation on important legislation. “We (federal government) are going make important legislation in the coming days and need support from our coalition partners,” the prime minister said.

The sources added that PM Shehbaz reaffirmed his commitment to parliamentary supremacy and urged allies to support key legislation.

During his briefing on the nation’s economic state, the PM Shehbaz said that everyone is aware of the status of the government at the time PDM took over the power. He said his government prevented the country from going into default.

The sources added that coalition partners reiterated their support for PM Shehbaz’s leadership and government decisions while praising his performance.

Meanwhile, the prime minister directed that all government members not to leave Islamabad, emphasising the need for collective support on all government decisions, including legislation.

A state-run news agency reported that the prime minister attributed the economic progress to the government’s efforts, started in April 2022, to save the country from default. He emphasized that the economic team’s efforts had not only stabilized the economy but also put it on a growth trajectory.

“The economic experts are forecasting further decline in the inflation rate during the current month which is a good news for the nation”, he said adding that in 2018, we also left the government with a single digit inflation rate.

The government intending to enhance the Supreme Court’s bench strength and introduce a constitutional reforms package in the parliament, sources said.

It is to be mentioned here that recently bills, seeking to enhance Supreme Court’s number of judges, have been introduced in the National Assembly and the Senate.

Independent Senator Abdul Qadir presented ‘The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill, 2024’ in the upper house to increase the number of apex court judges to 21.

A bill tabled in the lower house, by PML-N parliamentarian Daniyal Chaudhry called for increasing the number of judges in the apex court to 23.