ISLAMABAD: Contrary to widespread speculation, the government is not considering introducing any constitutional amendment during the upcoming session of the National Assembly, scheduled to begin in the first week of August.
Highly placed sources told The News/Jang on Saturday evening that reports suggesting that a draft amendment has been prepared are also inaccurate. If any amendment were planned, it would be made public and no discussions have taken place on such legislation. The sources noted that ever since the passage of the 26th Constitutional Amendment last year, rumors about a new amendment have continued to circulate without basis.
Parliamentary sources indicated that the National Assembly session, commencing on August 4, is expected to be particularly noisy. Members of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) are likely to create a commotion in the House on August 5—the day marking two years since the incarceration of the PTI founder.
The opening day of the session will be reserved for offering prayers and tributes to the late Mian Muhammad Azhar, the sitting MNA from Lahore who passed away earlier this week. A condolence resolution will be adopted, following which the House will be adjourned for the next day.
Meanwhile, MNA-elect Mrs. Hamid Habib from Sargodha, elected on a special seat from Punjab, is expected to take her oath during this session. In addition, 27 members elected last year on special seats—who were barred from parliament for a year due to a Supreme Court bench ruling—will also return.
That verdict was recently overturned by a full bench of the Supreme Court. These returning members, representing women and minorities, are now entitled to receive salaries and allowances for the period during which they were denied access to parliament.
In a related development, Speaker of the National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq is expected to forward the disqualification reference of MNA Ahmad Chattha from Gujranwala to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) next week. Chattha was recently sentenced by the Sargodha Anti-Terrorism Court to 38 years of rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs500,000 for his involvement in the May 9 anti-state incidents. His seat will be declared vacant for a by-election, making him the third MNA whose disqualification reference has been sent to the ECP by the speaker.
Previously, disqualification references were sent against Leader of the Opposition Umar Ayub Khan and MNA Jamshed Dasti of Muzaffargarh over fraudulent documentation submitted to the ECP. Dasti has already been disqualified, and a by-election schedule has been announced for his seat.
The reference against Umar Ayub is currently being heard, and a verdict is expected next month. The case was filed by former MNA Babar Nawaz of Hazara, challenging the accuracy of Ayub’s asset declarations submitted to the ECP after last year’s election.