ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi on Monday summoned the next session of the National Assembly on July 29 (Monday) at 4pm at the parliament house, according to a notification.

“The president has summoned the session in exercise of powers conferred by clause (1) of Article 54 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, said a press release issued by the National Assembly Secretariat,” the notification said.

The session on July 29 is likely to be a blistering one as several hot issues will be taken up especially by the opposition including Prime Minister Imran Khan’s visit to the US, media censorship, arrests of former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and MNA Rana Sanaullah, and overall economic situation of the country.

The two main opposition parties, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party, had sought in the previous NA session held on July 2 to discuss post-budget situation in the country and the arrest of Mr Sanaullah, but most senior party members, including Opposition Leader Shahbaz Sharif, did not attend the sitting.

Before the start of that session, both treasury and opposition members had reached an understanding that the sitting would only continue for two hours and then the regular session of the house will begin from July 29.

The current visit to the US by the prime minister will echo in the National Assembly and it is expected that the prime minister will brief the lower house about his visit and its outcome.

The issue of recent arrest of Mr Abbasi for alleged corruption in Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) contract may cause hue and cry in the house and the opposition has already criticised the government over it saying it was “politically motivated”.

Media censorship will also be a hot topic in the upcoming session of the lower house, especially the complete blackout of PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz’s recent rally in Faisalabad.

Issues of economic crisis and price hike will also came under discussion as the opposition has already planned countrywide protest on the matter.

Published in Dawn, July 23rd, 2019