Govt jolted again in 24 hours: Parliament’s joint session postponed on short notice

ISLAMABAD: The government abruptly announced postponing of joint sitting of the Parliament, which was scheduled to take up 30 bills, including legislation regarding electoral reforms today (Thursday).

Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said Wednesday that the decision to postpone the joint sitting was taken to create bipartisan support for electoral reforms. “The electoral reform is a matter of the future of the country and the government is trying in good faith to reach a consensus on these issues,” the information minister on his official Twitter said.

The president summoned the joint sitting only and called it off within hours. The sources said decision to postpone joint sitting was taken during luncheon hosted by the prime minister for parliamentarians of his party and allies.

The government suffered defeat twice during introduction of private members bills in the National Assembly Tuesday for want of majority in the House on that occasion. Fawad Chaudhry said National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser has been asked to contact with the opposition once again to bring a unanimous electoral reform bill. He said the joint sitting of Parliament was being postponed for this purpose. “We hope that the opposition will seriously consider these important reforms and we will be able to adopt a common strategy for the future of Pakistan. However, if this does not happen then we cannot take back step from the reforms,” he maintained.

Meanwhile, the National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaisar on his Twitter said during the meeting, some important discussion was held with the prime minister with regard to the joint session. He said on directives of the prime minister, he would soon contact opposition parties on electoral reforms and other bills so that their reservations could be removed to build consensus on vital national issues. Asad Qaisar said the government desired to take along all the parties and every possible efforts will be made for the purpose. He hoped that opposition parties would cooperate with the government on the issue of electoral reforms.

Earlier, the information minister criticised the opposition parties, advising them to “learn to stand on your feet”. “You can’t succeed by hatching conspiracies all the time,” the minister said.

Meanwhile, the backdoor lobbying of the government led by Prime Minister Imran Khan has reportedly failed to garner the support of parliamentarians over the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) bill that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf was set to table.

According to the insiders, the lobbying within the government bloc to seek support for the bills to be tabled by the PTI has flopped as the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and Pakistan Muslim League (Q) raised their reservations. “We were not consulted over the EVM bill and its terms of reference”, the parliamentarians objected, said the sources. These developments, the insiders said, have led to the postponement of the joint sitting of parliament wherein various bills, including NAB Ordinance, were to be tabled.