NA, Senate sessions on constitutional amendments rescheduled for Monday

Following lots of meetings in Islamabad on a Sunday, centred around JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, delayed the National Assembly session over proposed constitutional amendments package finally convened a little before midnight but was immediately adjourned till 12:30pm on Monday, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

Both the sessions were scheduled for Sunday morning but were subject to delays as JUI-F chief did not turn up to attend the Special Committee meeting the as both the government and the opposition members remained busy holding important meetings.

Maulana Fazl arrived at the Parliament House at around 11:15pm night to attend the special committee meeting on constitutional amendments. The meeting, chaired by Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) member Khursheed Shah, besides Maulana Fazl, Bilawal Bhutto, Aleem Khan and others member are also attending the meeting. Attorney General Mansoor Usman Awan briefed the committee on the proposed constitutional amendments.

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi welcomed Fazl in the parliament. After reaching the parliament building, JUI-F chief said that nation will get good news. Today’s NA session was initially convened for 11:30am but then changed to 4pm on a Special Parliamentary Committee’s request made to the NA speaker. However, the session was unable to start even at the revised time as meetings between the govt and political parties continued. It remains unknown at what time the session would now begin. Meanwhile, the Senate session was originally scheduled for 4pm but was first delayed to 7pm and then 10pm.

The political activity on Sunday continued from morning to late into the night although there seemingly is no deadline which needs the bill rushed through the parliament.

Among the pre-session dialogues was Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s meeting with his elder sibling, Nawaz Sharif, and his son Hamza Shehbaz.

The PML-N leadership also met MQM-P leaders as well as Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, but more importantly, JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, who again became a sought-after personality for the government as his party could hold the key in the bill sailing through the parliament.

After the government delegation visited Fazl, the PTI sent a delegation of their own to his residence, comprising of PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Omar Ayub, senior PTI leader Asad Qaiser and Sahibzada Hamid Raza.

Meanwhile, the federal cabinet, whose meeting was scheduled to be held at 3:00 PM today after it was first postponed in the morning, was later again postponed as it appears that the ruling coalition has so far failed to muster the support of the required number of members of the parliament (MPs) for the passage of constitutional amendments ahead of the NA and Senate sessions to be held later today, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.  

Chairman of the Senate, Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani, on Sunday, approved the nominations from both government and opposition benches for the members of the Special Committee. According to the Senate Secretariat, the nominated members include the leader of the Opposition Senator Syed Shibli Faraz, Parliamentary leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party Senator Sherry Rehman, Parliamentary leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-N Senator Irfan-ul-Haque Siddiqui, Parliamentary leader of PTI Senator Ali Zafar, Parliamentary leader of BAP Senator Manzoor Ahmed, Parliamentary leader of JUIP Senator Atta Ur Rehman, Parliamentary leader of ANP Senator Ajmal Wali Khan, Parliamentary leader of MQM-P Senator Syed Faisal Subzwari, Parliamentary leader of BNP Senator Muhammad Qasim, Parliamentary leader of MWMP Senator Raja Nasir Abbas, Parliamentary leader of NP Senator Jan Muhammad, Parliamentary leader of PML Senator Kamil Ali Agha, and Parliamentary leader of SIC Senator Hamid Khan.

Meanwhile, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has claimed that the government has the required numbers to get the amendments passed. In their efforts to win the support of the JUI-F, delegations of both the PML-N and the PPP, representing the government, visited Maulana Fazl’s residence in Islamabad late Saturday night. The latter presented to them his draft of amendments. And today, the government will inform Maulana of its opinion on the draft.

It has been learnt that the government's delegation had accepted most of demands of the JUI-F chief yesterday.

A PTI delegation, too, went to the JUI-F chief’s home to request him not to throw his weight behind the government. On Saturday, 24News reported that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had called a meeting of the federal cabinet on Sunday to approve the draft of constitutional amendments. After which it will be presented at the NA session. 

Earlier, Leader of the House in the Senate and Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar had informed the Upper House that the constitutional amendments were in line with the provisions of the Charter of Democracy (COD) endorsed by all the political parties including the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

Senator Ishaq Dar underlined that there was a disconnect between the Leader of the Opposition’s party leadership in the Senate and the National Assembly.

 “It was the third in-camera meeting of the Special Parliamentary Committee in the Parliament which was participated by Chairman PTI, Barrister Gohar Ali and Opposition Leader in the National Assembly, Omar Ayub Khan who was absent in the previous two meetings. There have been discussions on different agenda items,” he said.

He added that the Opposition Leader should seek details from his colleagues on the special committee meetings.

Senator Dar informed the House that the issue emerged after Chairman Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPPP), Bilawal Bhutto Zardari made a statement for joint efforts to restore the prestige of the Parliament and proposed a committee of all political parties on the arrest of some members of the lower house of the Parliament.

Reporters: Awais Kiani and Usman Khan