ISLAMABAD: Presi­d­ent Dr Arif Alvi summoned a joint sitting of parliament on Feb 8 to take up important legislative business.

“The president has called the joint sitting of the parliament at 3pm on Feb 8 (Wednesday) under Articles 48(1) and 54(1) of the Constitution,” said an official announcement issued by the presidency.

Both the National Assembly and the Senate are already in session.

Sources told Dawn that the government had convened the joint sitting to approve some important bills, including the Islam­abad Capital Terri­tory LG (Ame­ndment) Bill, 2022.

On Jan 1, the president had refused to sign the controversial bill through which the government had increased the number of union councils (UCs). The bill was passed by the National Assembly and the Senate after the cabinet decided to raise the number of UCs from 101 to 125, 10 days before the elections. The move led to postponement of the elections.

Mr Alvi had returned the bill with an observation that it would further delay the elections.

“Actions of the federal government taken in [a] hurry resulted in delaying [the] election process tw­­ice, which was anathema to democracy,” the presidency had said, describing the federal government’s actions as “malafide”.

Meanwhile, the National Assembly Secretariat issued a 38-point agenda on Monday for the private members day sitting on Tuesday.

Published in Dawn, January 31st, 2023