Pak President rejects summary to summon National Assembly session

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan President Arif Alvi has rejected a summary to summon the National Assembly session, sources said, in which newly-elected MNAs will take oath, according to a media report.

The President, as per sources, said that all reserved seats should be allocated first before the summoning of the session, Geo News reported.

With only three days left in the Constitution-mandated deadline to summon the session of the National Assembly, President Alvi has come under severe criticism from the political parties, particularly the PPP and the PML-N, for resorting to 'delaying tactics' instead of convening the session of the lower House of the Parliament, Dawn reported.

A summary requisitioning the session of the Assembly was sent to the President by the parliamentary affairs division four days ago, but there has been no official response from Alvi, Dawn reported.

PML-N and PPP leaders criticised the President for not summoning the session, with PPP leader Shazia Marri saying the President should not abuse his Constitutional powers.

“President Alvi should not be loyal to an individual but the Constitution,” she said, adding that if the President does not summon the session within the prescribed period, he will be remembered among the violators of the Constitution, Dawn reported.