President Arif Alvi has yet to call a session of the National Assembly despite receiving a request from the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs. The delay stems from concerns over allocating certain reserved seats, with the president noting the parliament’s composition remains incomplete.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has distributed reserved seats among various political parties. Still, it has withheld allocation to the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) following the shift of PTI-backed independents to SIC. The ECP cites the issue of SIC’s reserved seats as an ongoing deliberation.
President Alvi has relayed his stance verbally without formally rejecting or approving the request.
Despite this, the interim government asserts that the National Assembly session will proceed on February 29, as mandated by Article 91 of the Constitution, regardless of presidential approval. Ishaq Dar, a senior leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), stated that the National Assembly speaker holds the authority to convene the session should the president abstain by constitutional provisions.
The caretaker administration emphasizes the constitutional requirement to convene the National Assembly within 21 days post-election, indicating the session’s inevitability on February 29, based on these terms.
Caretaker Minister for Information, Broadcasting, and Parliamentary Affairs Murtaza Solangi suggested earlier that the first National Assembly session could be scheduled between February 22 and February 29. During a television appearance, he clarified that forming a government requires a simple majority and post-18th Amendment, the president’s role embodies the Federation, lacking the prerogative to influence government formation directly.
Constitutionally, the president must summon the National Assembly session within 21 days following the election. The inaugural session will see the current speaker administering oaths to the newly elected members, followed by the elections for the speaker, deputy speaker, and prime minister.
