ISLAMABAD: Deputy Parliamentary Leader of Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI) Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Monday termed President Asif Ali Zardari’s address to the joint sitting of the Parliament a “constitutional obligation.”

Speaking to media representatives outside the Parliament House, he said it was a short and conventional address and there was nothing new in it.

The president has recounted the same challenges the country is facing for the past several years. Security, energy crisis, law and order, inflation, poor economy and unemployment are all chronic issues, he said.

Qureshi said the president spoke about formation of Truth and Reconciliation Commission, an effective accountability mechanism, need to tap Thar coal reserves, drone attacks and issue of missing persons. What had stopped the previous government from solving these issues, he inquired.

They remained in power for the last five years but did nothing to redress people's grievances, Qureshi said.

Replying to a question, he said that PTI could have protested during the president's address but avoided it to promote parliamentary traditions. “We will express our reaction when the House initiates debate upon the presidential address,” he said.

The PTI leader said today all political parties endorsed principled stance of his party’s chairman Imran Khan on drone attacks. We have already moved a “Calling Attention notice” in the House to express our concern on drone attacks, he added.