The National Assembly would convene at 6pm today (Sunday), with a standard agenda of nine points released. Notably, the 26th constitutional amendment is not included in the published agenda.
Sources told Aaj News said that the constitutional amendment will be introduced through a supplementary agenda. At the beginning of the meeting, a motion to suspend the regular agenda will be approved.
Additionally, the Legal Aid and Justice Authority Amendment Bill is set to be presented during the session.
The NA’s agenda for the session includes a focus on irregularities in the collection of the General Sales Tax. Additionally, a question-and-answer session is also scheduled as part of the agenda. A motion to thank the president for addressing the joint session is included as well.
Furthermore, a notice addressing the non-payment of pension benefits to retired employees of Radio Pakistan will also be part of the discussions.
Meanwhile, the agenda for the Senate session has been altered following the meeting’s scheduled time, but the revised agenda still does not include the legislation.
The Senate Secretariat has released a three-point agenda, which includes a motion to suspend the question-and-answer session and a motion to express gratitude for the presidential address.
Described as the 26th constitutional amendment, the legislation aims to change the process of appointments of the chief justice of the Supreme Court.
A special parliamentary committee made a major breakthrough in the draft of the legislation as panel head Khursheed Shah announced that the committee has “unanimously” approved the draft.
PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and PTI Chairman Gohar Ali Khan also spoke on the same wavelength. But Gohar, Fazl and BNP-M chief Sardar Akhtar Mengal demanded that their lawmakers should not be coerced to vote for the legislation.
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But Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar told reporters in the wee hours of Sunday that some changes would be made to the salient features of the draft that was approved by the special parliamentary committee and the cabinet would seek approval for these revisions.
“It is possible that the constitutional amendments bill will be presented in the House by a political party,” he said.
