ISLAMABAD, April 11: The opposition members on Monday submitted a requisition to the Senate Secretariat for convening a session of the Upper House. The requisition notice has been signed by 29 senators belonging to the People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPP), Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA). Under the constitution, the Senate chairman is required to convene a session within 14 days of the requisition. This will be the first session of the Senate in the third parliamentary year, which started from March 12.

In the requisition notice, submitted under Article 54(3) of the constitution, the opposition members have mentioned a six-point agenda to be taken up for discussion in this session.

The opposition mainly wants to discuss “phenomenal increase in prices of items of daily consumption and rising unemployment in the country” and “issue of political victimisation” of the opponents of the government.

Besides, the notice has been submitted to “discuss the curbs imposed by the government on constitutional and fundamental rights of the combined opposition, which is resulting in political victimisation,” says the agenda.

Other issues on which the opposition wants to have a thorough debate are “deteriorating law and order situation in the country, the foreign policy with special reference to the composite dialogue and the Baglihar Dam and other related issues, performance of the parliamentary committee on Balochistan and legislative business of private members.”

A source in the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD) told Dawn that the opposition wanted to submit the requisition notice on March 28 but it was delayed on the request of the PPP which wanted submission of requisition after the death anniversary of late Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.

Meanwhile, ARD’s Parliamentary Secretary Izhar Amrohvi, while talking to Dawn, said the opposition had submitted the requisition notice at a time when the Senate secretariat had been functioning without a chairman for past over two weeks.