Inaugural NA session to convene at 10am on Thursday

ISLAMABAD: Following a standoff between President Dr Arif Alvi and the Centre over inaugural proceedings, the National Assembly (NA) Secretariat on Wednesday said that the maiden session of the lower house of the Parliament will meet at 10am tomorrow (Thursday).

“National Assembly (NA) session to begin at 10am tomorrow [Thursday],” the notification read.

National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf had summoned the maiden sitting of lower house of Parliament on Feb 29 as President Arif Alvi refused to summon the session on account of an ‘incomplete house’.

In response to a summary by the Parliamentary Affairs Division last week, the president said the lower house was not complete, so he could not summon the session as requested.

Sources claimed that President Alvi wanted to delay the session till the issuance of a notification by the Election Commission of Pakistan regarding the reserved seats of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), which was joined by PTI-backed lawmakers.

Read More: President Arif Alvi to face dual constitution violation charges, says Bilawal

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.

Under the Constitution, the first session of the National Assembly is required to be convened within 21 days after the general elections held on Feb 8. Section 91(2) of the Constitution says: “The National Assembly shall meet on the twenty-first day following the day on which a general election to the assembly is held, unless sooner summoned by the president.”

According to a senior official of the National Assembly Secretariat, the president is duty-bound to call the session of the NA within 21 days; otherwise, the secretariat itself could announce the session. He said the secretariat had made all necessary arrangements for the new assembly’s first session.