Rabbani to boycott Alvi’s speech at joint sitting today

ISLAMABAD: Former chairman Senate Senator Mian Raza Rabbani has decided to boycott the speech of President Dr Arif Alvi to be delivered today (Thursday) at the joint sitting of the Parliament in protest.

According to the sources close to Rabbani, he has decided not to attend the joint sitting of both the houses of the Parliament held for the presidential address to kick start the new parliamentary year of the National Assembly.

The sources said the former Senate chairman had serious reservations on the role of President Dr Arif Alvi and accused him of circumventing the Parliament by promulgating the ordinances for sending references with mala fide intent against the judges of the superior judiciary.

Rabbani’s expressed concerns that the president acted like a political worker and failed to perform his constitutional obligation to administer oath of office to the prime minister after the success of no-confidence motion against ex-PM Imran Khan, made flawed appointments on the advice of the ex-PM in autonomous and semi autonomous bodies, which were struck down by the courts, acted on the advice of the PM suffering disqualification under Article-95 of the Constitution and dissolved the National Assembly, the sources said.

When contacted whether he would attend the joint sitting of the Parliament for the presidential address or not, Senator Raza Rabbani said: “My position is clear as I would use all the parliamentary tools to register my protest.”