ISLAMABAD – The inaugural session of the newly elected National Assembly will be held on February 28 Thursday despite President Alvi’s refusal to summon the session.
The outgoing Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf summoned the maiden session of the National Assembly on Thursday as President Dr Alvi refused to sign the summary to convene the session.
A notification shared by the speaker said the session will start at 10 am tomorrow on Thursday.
As per the book, the session of the new assembly must be called within 21 days of the general election, and as per the time, the deadline was set for February 29.
The development comes after a prolonged deadlock between the incumbent government and President Dr Alvi, who belongs to Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf.
Alvi on the other hand emphasized that the assembly would not commence its proceedings until all political parties receive their designated reserved seats.
Although the ECP allocated reserved seats to various political entities, it is yet to assign seats to the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), which includes independent candidates supported by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). The matter of allocating reserved seats to the SIC remains pending with the ECP.
The Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs forwarded the summary for convening the inaugural session to the president four days ago. However, as of now, the president has not signed the summary, nor has he given a formal response. His decision is currently conveyed verbally.
According to Article 91 of the Constitution, if the president refrains from signing the session summary, the speaker of the National Assembly is obligated to convene the session 21 days after the elections.
