Newly-elected members of National Assemblies were sworn in as lawmakers on Thursday amid the Sunni Ittehad Council protest against alleged rigging in elections.
The National Assembly’s maiden session began more than one hour after the scheduled time on Thursday. The Sunni Ittehad Council protested and chanted slogans when the speaker started speaking.
The SIC, which has now a large number of independent candidates backed by the PTI, were protesting when Speaker Raja Pervez Ashraf was administering the oath of office to newly elected MNAs.
Tight security
The capital city administration has increased the security at the Red Zone in Islamabad, hours before the session.
The administration has closed the entry of unrelated staff to Parliament and the constitutional avenue. A heavy contingent of police has also been deployed at all entry points.
The decision was taken after the Sunni Ittehad Council announced its decision to protest against alleged rigging in elections inside Parliament and outside it.
Sources said that lawmakers from the ruling alliance would not allow any opposition MNA to get near to the dais of the speaker.
Alvi summons NA session at eleventh hour
President Arif Alvi summoned the National Assembly session on Thursday (today) to elect the custodian of the House and deputy speaker, hours after the outgoing speaker convened the session.
In a statement on X, the president said that his returning the summary for a National Assembly session was “very much in accordance with the provisions of Article 48(1)” of the Constitution.
The maiden session of the lower house of Parliament is scheduled to start at 10am. According to the agenda, newly elected representatives would take oath during the session.
“It is not understood on what grounds it has been taken as a partisan act, though it was also aimed at the completion of the National Assembly in accordance with Article 51 of the Constitution,” the president’s statement said.
Alvi said that he “did not want to indulge and engage himself or to dwell into such baseless accusations of constitutional violation attributed in the summary”.
He further remarked that it was “needless to remind that a caretaker prime minister/setup was merely responsible to ensure conducive conditions for the peaceful, fair and transparent holding of the general elections, […] on which many quarters had expressed reservations”.
The president also expressed concerns over the tone of language expressed in a summary sent by the caretaker prime minister.
“Summaries are not usually addressed in this way. It is sad that [the] chief executive of the country addresses the head of the state in the first form and resorts to unacceptable language and allegations without any substance.”
