Pakistan President Dr. Arif Alvi's refusal to summon the newly-elected National Assembly for its first session may lead to "legal consequences", senior leaders of the PML-N and PPP have warned.
On February 26, Mr. Alvi rejected a move from the caretaker Parliamentary Affairs Ministry to summon the first session of the newly elected National Assembly on February 29.
Mr. Alvi, known for his closeness to jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan, has maintained that all reserved seats be allocated before the summoning of the session in which newly-elected members of the National Assembly will take oath.
The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) on February 27 rejected the objections raised by Mr. Alvi, stating that constitutionally, the first National Assembly session should take place within 21 days after the elections, and the President could summon the session before the expiry of the deadline, the Dawn newspaper reported.
Under Article 91 of the Constitution, the mandated date for the first session of the National Assembly is February 29.
The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on February 27 warned that several cases will be made against Mr. Alvi for “abrogating the Constitution”, the report said.
Mr. Bilawal said that two cases would be filed against Mr. Alvi. The first would be for dissolving the National Assembly when a no-confidence motion was moved against the then-Prime Minister Imran Khan in 2022, and the second would be for abrogating the Constitution by not convening the National Assembly session.
He, however, asserted that his party had no plans to impeach the President, the report said.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Leader Ishaq Dar also said Mr. Alvi abrogated the Constitution by not summoning the National Assembly session and would face legal cases.
Asserting that if “sense prevailed”, the President would convene the session, Mr. Dar urged the Law Ministry, National Assembly Secretariat and other departments to summon the session by February 29 as per the Constitution.
After the denial by Mr. Alvi — a close aide of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan and a former senior member of his party — National Assembly outgoing Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf decided to convene the lower house of Parliament session on February 29.
The PTI-backed independents won majority seats at the National Assembly in the February 8 general election.
However, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) have agreed on a power-sharing deal to form a new coalition government, which may effectively end Khan's chances of returning to power.
Khan's party has rejected the attempts by the PMLN and the PPP to form a coalition government, warning that robbing its public endorsement by the "mandate thieves" will result in the worst political instability.
Independent candidates — a majority backed by the PTI party — won 93 National Assembly seats.
The PML-N won 75 seats, while the PPP came third with 54 seats. The Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P) has 17 seats.
