ISLAMABAD: The parliament holds second joint sitting of the house in a week at 4pm today with important national issues on the agenda. Besides the joint sitting, the Senate will also resume its session today. The constitutional experts say it has also happened in the past.
Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani on Sunday, already changed Monday’s session timing from 4pm to 12 noon. The official announcement said the timing was revised due to the joint sitting of the parliament.
The previous joint sitting, held last Wednesday held discussions on six points, but there was no mention of the terrorism issue despite demand for a discussion on the matter from various politicians, including those belonging to the ruling coalition.
On that day, the joint sitting passed the Islamabad Capital Territory Local Government (Amendment) Act, 2022, with an amendment.
The bill for the law was passed by the NA and Senate around a month ago. This law sanctions the direct elections of the mayor and deputy mayor of Islamabad.
An amendment was moved by Senator Rana Maqbool Ahmad Khan of the PML-N in last held joint session.
The amendment omitted the Clause 3 of the previously passed bill. It had mandated for indirect elections of the mayor and deputy mayor of ICT.
At First Joint Session
The parliament discussed the economic policy, CPEC, population explosion, climate change impact, respect for national institutions, the Jammu and Kashmir issue and foreign policy.
Besides, the House approved two bills, including the controversial Islamabad Capital Territory Local Government (Amendment) Bill 2022.
President Arif Alvi had refused to sign the controversial bill on Jan 1 through which the government had increased the number of union councils (UCs) in Islamabad.
Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar presented the Protection of Parents Bill 2022 for passage.
The agenda also contained a traditional resolution in the name of Foreign Minister in connection with the Kashmir Solidarity Day.
Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Murtaza Javed Abbasi moved a motion. The discussion on the “national issues will be sought in order to create awareness and building consensus”.
