ISLAMABAD – National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser has summoned the awaited assembly session on March 25 to take up the no-confidence motion submitted by the PDM alliance against Prime Minister Imran Khan.
A notification issued from the NA Secretariat said the 41st session of the current National Assembly will convene at 11 am on Friday.
The session was summoned after the opposition made the requisition for it under Article 54 of the Constitution along with the submission of the no-confidence motion against the prime minister on March 8.
“Having no adequate option available whatsoever, for holding of the Session of the National Assembly before March 24….in the exercise of powers conferred upon me under Clause (3) of Article 54 of Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan read with Article 254…I hereby summon the session…on the first available date i.e. Friday…at the Parliament House, Islamabad,” the order cited.
NA speaker, in his order, mentioned that no suitable place would be available to conduct the session before March 24 in wake of renovations at the Parliament House for the OIC moot.
“After the receipt of requisition on March 8, the National Assembly Secretariat requested the Senate Secretariat to provide Chamber of the Senate for holding of National Assembly session. The Senate Secretariat informed that the Senate chamber is also not available being under renovation,” the order reads.
NA speaker added that CDA chairman and Islamabad DC were also approached for an alternate arrangement outside the Parliament House but that also remained an exercise in futility.
The development comes a day after the joint opposition slammed Imran Khan-led government for alleged attempts to delay the much-anticipated session under the guise of the OIC moot in the capital on March 22-23.
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PPP and PML-N also warned to disrupt the session by staging a sit-in in front of the assembly. Later, the opposition backtracked, saying the OIC session in Islamabad was a source of pride for the opposition leadership.
As per the rules, the speaker has a maximum time of two weeks to summon a meeting once a session of the National Assembly has been requisitioned with signatures of at least 25 percent of the members.
