NA, Senate to take up constitutional amendments next week

ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly and Senate sessions are being convened next week to consider constitutional amendments based on judicial reforms, the schedule of which will be determined in the light of the decision of five-member bench of the Supreme Court on Article 63A of the Constitution. The bench is reviewing the court decision.

According to it, members of the assembly who vote according to their conscience will be disqualified for changing loyalties and their vote will not be counted. Lawyers and constitutional experts across the country raised their voices against this decision.

The review application will be heard by the Supreme Court bench in Islamabad next Monday Sept 30. Parliamentary sources said that all necessary preparations have been completed in the light of instructions issued last week to the parliamentary secretary to be ready to hold his meetings.

The special committee established by Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq of all political parties, which was entrusted with the responsibility of conducting the parliamentary affairs smoothly, will also meet before the meeting of the National Assembly and Senate. Now the Senate representation has also been included in it. All major political parties have decided that the draft for constitutional amendments will be presented for consideration in this session.

It has been learnt that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who was supposed to return home after attending the United Nations summit in the first week of October, will now return home by Tuesday (October 1). His London stay on his return has also been shortened.

In the absence of the prime minister, Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, among other things, has performed the responsibilities of supervising the parliamentary activities, especially the plan of constitutional amendments and, in this regard, he is in contact with leaders of all the political parties and PMLN President Nawaz Sharif. It was learnt that the government does not intend to take constitutional amendments issue beyond the first week of October.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Heads of Government meeting is starting in Islamabad in mid-October, for which the arrival of delegates will start in the second week of October. Apart from this, Chinese Prime Minister Li Jiang is also making a bilateral official visit to Pakistan from October 14, for which it has been decided to settle the constitutional issues by the end of the first week.

More than 34 heads of government and leading leaders have informed Pakistan about their participation in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting. It is possible that the government for this meeting, apart from the Convention Centre, will use the National Assembly.

Meanwhile, it has been learnt that the government will present the SC Practice and Procedure Amendment Ordinance in both Houses of Parliament to make it a law, if necessary.