Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: The Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaiser summoned the session of the lower house on March 25, at Parliament House Building, said a notification issued here on Sunday.

The session will convene at 11 am on Friday and will be the 41st session of the current 15th National Assembly. The Speaker summoned the session under Article 54 (3) and Article 254 of the Constitution. The joint opposition made the requisition for the session along with the submission of the no-confidence motion against the prime minister on March 8.

The clause 3 of Article 54 of the Constitution says, “On a requisition signed by not less than one-fourth of the total membership of the National Assembly, the Speaker shall summon the National Assembly to meet, at such time and place as he thinks fit, within fourteen days of the receipt of the requisition; and when the Speaker has summoned the Assembly only he may prorogue it”. According to Article 254, “When any act or thing is required by the Constitution to be done within a particular period and it is not done within that period, the doing of the act or thing shall not be invalid or other-wise ineffective by reason only that it was not done within that period”.

It is to mention that Speaker Asad Qaisar has summoned the session under Article 54 (3) read with Article 254 of the Constitution. However, an order issued by the National Assembly Secretariat with signature of Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaisar, it has been explained that on January 21 a motion was adopted by the National Assembly to allow the exclusive use of its chamber for the 48th session of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Council of Foreign Ministers on March 22 and 23.

It said that renovation work of the Chamber of the National Assembly and its Lobbies had commenced on the requirement of Ministry of Foreign Affairs to enable the OIC for meeting by end of February 2022, which was undertaken by Capital Development Authority (CDA). After the receipt of requisition on March 8, 2022, the NA Secretariat had asked the Senate Secretariat to provide its chamber for the lower house’s session but it was also unavailable due to renovation work.

The notification added that the chairman CDA and Deputy Commissioner Islamabad were also approached for the provision of a suitable place outside the Parliament Building but, “they have informed in writing that no suitable place is available at present in Islamabad.” “In view of the aforementioned facts and circumstances, it is evident that no suitable place would be available for holding the session of the National Assembly till 24th March,” the order stated.

The Speaker’s Order further said, “therefore, in exercise of power conferred upon me under clause (3) of the Article 54 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan read with Article 254 of the Constitution, I hereby summon the session of National Assembly on the first available date i.e Friday, the 25th March 2022 at 11:00 am at the Parliament House, Islamabad”.