President Alvi finally signs summary to convene NA inaugural session

ISLAMABAD: Following a tug-of-war with the Centre, President Dr Arif Alvi has finally signed a summary, forwarded by Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar, to summon the National Assembly’s (NA) inaugural session on Thursday at 10am, ARY News reported.

Sources told ARY News that President Alvi signed the summary forwarded by the caretaker government despite ‘reservations’.

In a statement issued from the President House, Dr. Arif Alvi also ‘expressed’ reservations over the “tone and allegations” in the caretaker summary forwarded by PM Anwaarul Kakar.

“The tone of the caretaker prime minister is deplorable,” the president said.

Dr. Arif Alvi said that he is the head of the state under Article 41 of the Constitution 1973, adding that he waited for 21 days to summon the NA session so that the issue related to the allocation of reserved seats would be resolved.

“The reserve seats should be allotted under Article 51 within 21 days,” he asserted.

Meanwhile, the two-day schedule of the National Assembly’s inaugural session has been released.

As per the schedule, newly elected members will take oath in the session fixed to start at 10 am. The nomination papers for the election of Speaker and Deputy Speaker can be collected from noon on the day.

The elections for speaker and deputy speaker will be held on March 1.

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.

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.