Maiden NA session following set up of coalition govt under PM Shehbaz tomorrow

• First NA session since Imran Khan’s ouster to be held at Parliament House at 4pm tomorrow.
• At least two dozen MNAs belonging to the PTI had reportedly approached the speaker seeking a meeting to clarify their stance on resignations, say sources.
• The NA speaker is expected to appoint a Leader of the Opposition from amongst nearly two dozen defiant lawmakers of the PTI.

ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi, under Article 54(1) of the Constitution, has summoned the National Assembly session on the advice of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at 4 pm on Monday.

As per the details, the NA session will be held at Parliament House and Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf will preside over the session.

It will be the first session of the House after the ouster of Imran Khan-led government. The agenda of the session has not been released yet but it is expected to be issued by Sunday (today) evening.

It is pertinent to mention here that Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf will have to face the challenge of keeping parliament functional after the mass resignations of 123 PTI lawmakers.

The speaker is likely to start the process of verification of the resignations submitted by PTI MNAs by calling them in his chamber individually or in the form of groups during the current session, Dawn.com reported, citing sources.

At least two dozen MNAs belonging to the PTI had already reportedly approached him seeking a meeting to clarify their stance, the sources added.

The sources further said that a majority of the resignations submitted by the PTI lawmakers were not handwritten and had a similar text printed on the party’s letterhead. Signatures of some members on the resignation letters did not match those on the assembly roll, the sources said, quoting the secretarial staff.

Nomination of Leader of the Opposition

Following the en masse resignation of PTI MNAs, the appointment of an opposition leader in the House will be another challenge before the NA speaker.

Since the PTI leadership announced it would not return to the House, the speaker had no choice but to appoint an opposition leader from amongst nearly two dozen defiant lawmakers of the PTI.

According to the sources, Noor Alam Khan and Raja Riaz were the main contenders for the slot and both of them had already submitted formal requests to the speaker with the signatures of their colleagues.