'No opposition lawmaker asked NA speaker to postpone Parliament's joint session'

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Syed Khursheed Shah has refuted NA Speaker Asad Qaiser’s claim that Parliament’s joint session was postponed on opposition parties request, ARY News reported.

Talking to media outside the Parliament House, Syed Khursheed Shah said that no lawmaker from opposition benches has approached the NA speaker to postpone Parliament’s Thursday joint session.

“No opposition lawmaker has asked National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser to postpone Parliament’s joint session,” he said, adding that no contact was made by NA speaker with opposition on consensus on EVMs.

He claimed that the government had postponed session after PTI allies refused to support the electoral reforms bill to be passed through Parliament.

The PPP leader further said that the opposition has support of 169 lawmakers.

Read: GOVT POSTPONES JOINT SITTING OF PARLIAMENT

The federal govt postponed joint session of Parliament, summoned for Thursday to pass the electoral reforms and various other bills.

In a series of tweets, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said that the government has decided to postpone joint sitting of Parliament in order to build consensus on electoral reforms.

“Electoral reforms is a matter of country’s future and the government is trying to reach a consensus on these issues,” he said, adding that NA Speaker Asad Qaiser has been tasked to contact opposition in order to bring a unanimous electoral reform bill.