President delays summary to summon NA session

ISLAMABAD: President Arif Alvi has delayed signing a summary to summon inaugural session of the 16th National Assembly till allocation of all the women’s reserved seats of the lower house of Parliament.

The source said that the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs on Saturday sent a summary to the President to summon the National Assembly as per requirement of the Constitution.

However, President Alvi has desired that all the reserved seats for women be allocated before summoning the National Assembly session.

As the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has allocated women reserved seats of the National Assembly, it has yet to take a decision about reserved seats for the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC).

Senior PMLN leader Senator Ishaq Dar has maintained that as per Article 91 (2) of the Constitution, it is mandatory to summon inaugural session of the House within 21 days of date of conduct of general elections.

The National Assembly session as per Constitution should be held by February 29, the PMLN leader in a statement said. “If President does not summon the session, the Speaker can summon the sitting to meet on February 29,” Ishaq Dar in a statement said.

The Article 91 (2) of the Constitution says the National Assembly shall meet on the twenty-first day following the day on which a general elections to the Assembly is held, unless sooner summoned by the President.

The sources closed to the President House said the President had retained the summary without accepting or rejecting the same.

On first day of the inaugural session, the outgoing Speaker would administer oath to the newly elected members of the National Assembly followed by elections of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker on the next day.

Meanwhile, PMLN MNA-elect Atta Tarar said that President’s House has become a stronghold of conspiracies and President Arif Alvi is not doing justice to his position.

In a press conference on Sunday, he said that at present the President House has become a hotbed of conspiracies. He alleged that President Alvi was holding secret meetings with officials of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and was not calling the National Assembly session despite the fact a summary in this regard was sent to the President.

He said the President was reluctant to fulfill his constitutional responsibility by delaying the assembly session, which as per the constitution should be called within the 21 days after the elections and February 29, 2024 will be the last day in this regard.

Atta Tarar added that the President of the State of Pakistan has become PTI activist to harm democracy. “The notification of the members of the National Assembly has been issued, the President of the State should call the meeting. If he does not call the meeting, the Speaker should call the meeting of the National Assembly and he has the authority,” he said. He announced that the National Assembly’s session will be held on February 29.

The PMLN leader further said that a prisoner who has committed billions of rupees of corruption and was in jail, was threatening to write a letter to the IMF. “In what capacity is this prisoner writing a letter to the IMF? Will this prisoner write to the IMF about his corruption?” he questioned.

He stated that they were moving towards democracy but the President was bent on derailing the democracy. When the President wanted, he said he had to meet the founder of PTI in jail and when they wanted, they started promoting anti-state narratives.

Atta Tarar further alleged that the issue of the session of the National Assembly was being deliberately made controversial. He said after the notification of minority and women’s seats, there was no justification to delay the session. Tarar alleged that Arif Alvi’s son signed MoUs worth 700 crores with foreign companies while staying in the President’s House as his father allowed him to use the president’s office for his son’s business and also attended the MoU ceremony along with his son. President Arif Alvi shamed Pakistan in front of the whole world in the matter of Palestine, Tarar said and maintained that Arif Alvi gave an anti-Palestinian narrative and was working as a political activist of PTI instead of President of Pakistan.

The session of the National Assembly will be held on February 29, but the role of President Arif Alvi will be remembered in history, he claimed and said he will raise his voice in the National Assembly to investigate into the President Arif Alvi’s corruption.

Meanwhile, The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) took strong exception to President Dr Arif Alvi for delaying convening the session of newly elected National Assembly (NA) while terming it as a ‘misuse and abuse of his authority’ and said the president should follow the Constitution instead of loyalty to individual.

“It is necessary for the president to call NA session without delay on the summary of the prime minister so that the NA gets functional,” said Information Secretary PPP Parliamentarians Shahzia Marri, while reacting on delay by President Alvi for oath taking of the newly elected NA.

Shazia Marri said President Alvi’s every violation of Constitution and misuse of office will remain a part of history. “Remember, this is the same president who unconstitutionally dissolved NA in the past,” she said. Shazia Marri said the NA has been completed, the president is bound to convene a session of the National Assembly in 21-days after polls.