The joint sitting of the parliament scheduled for today was postponed indefinitely by the government primarily due to the joint opposition’s firm resolve to oppose any legislation proposed by government during the session as well as sensing that some members of the allied parties too may stab in its back by not showing up for the session.
Sources privy to the development told Daily Times that the allied parties, apart from PML-Q and MQM-P, were of the opinion that calling the joint session to get important legislation including electoral reforms and the NAB amended ordinance passed is a decision in haste and that the matters should be discussed in detail before being presented in the joint session. The Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) has also started showing the teeth and is not willing to cooperate fully on the matter.
With the recent change in the Balochistan province and with new Chief Minister Abdul Qadoos Bizenjo, the BAP is demanding more share in the federal cabinet, the sources added. “The BAP has categorically said that it needs two full ministers and one state minister in the federal cabinet … they have linked all future cooperation with the PTI government to this demand,” the sources said. “The BAP has also linked it with any share to PTI in the Balochistan cabinet,” they added.
The federal government is coming up with the statements that the joint session was postponed due to the reason that it wants to further engage with the opposition on the said legislation and for this, the National Assembly speaker has been given task in this regard. However, the sources were adamant there is something going on behind the scenes. They maintained that apart from opposition parties getting united to give tough times to the government in the parliament, it’s the allied parties also who are not fully onboard on the proposed legislation and certain other issues which they believe the PTI government has mishandled.