NA session: Caretaker govt responds to President Alvi's objections

ISLAMABAD: The caretaker federal government has responded to President Dr. Arif Alvi’s objections on the returned summary for summoning the National Assembly’s (NA) inaugural session, ARY news reported citing sources.

According to details, the federal government in response told Dr. Arif Alvi that the president does not have the ‘discretion or power’ to halt the National Assembly session under Article 91 of the Constitution 1973.

“Nowhere in Article 91 is it written that if the House is incomplete, the National Assembly session cannot be convened,” the sources added while quoting the federal government.

It added that the president could only adjourn the ‘ordinary’ session of the National Assembly under Article 54 of the constitution. In the summary, the president was asked to summon an extraordinary meeting of the National Assembly for oath-taking of the newly elected members.

The caretaker federal government requested Dr. Arif Alvi to review his decision and summon the National Assembly session by February 29.

“It is not written anywhere in the constitution that if specific seats are not allotted, the session cannot be called,” the sources said while quoting the federal government.

It added that under Clause 2 of Article 91 the constitution, it is obligatory to summon the National Assembly within 21 days of the election.

“Even if the President does not call the National Assembly session by February 29, it would still be held on the same day,” the caretaker government maintained in the response.

Read More: Speaker summons NA session on Feb 29

Earlier on Monday, Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf summoned the National Assembly session on Thursday, the 29th of February for the oath-taking of the newly elected MNAs.

As per details, the Speaker National Assembly summoned the session under clause 2 of Article 91 of the constitution after President Arif Alvi refused to do so, maintaining that the lower is still incomplete as a decision on some reserved seats is yet to be announced.

Raja Pervaiz Ashraf summoned the inaugural session of the National Assembly at 10 am on Thursday. The Speaker would administer the oath to the newly elected members of the National Assembly. The schedule for speaker and deputy speaker elections will also be issued in the inaugural session