The extraordinary session of the lower house of parliament will start at 11 am today with the no-trust motion, among the 15 agenda items, against the prime minister on the agenda.
The National Assembly session will be held under the chair of NA Speaker Asad. Though the no-trust motion has been on today’s agenda, it may not be tabled today for discussion as the proceeding may remain limited to recite Fateha for the late MNA Khayal Zaman.
The NA session is expected to be adjourned before the no-trust motion is adopted for discussion at the next session.
The NA session may be adjourned until March 30 or 31 before the much-anticipated debate and voting begins on the no-trust resolution against the prime minister. The joint opposition — which has submitted the no-trust motion against the prime minister — has announced to foil any attempt by the speaker to adjourn the session for a long time.
Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry has announced that the NA session will not be adjourned for an indefinite time and the proceedings will continue as per the schedule.
The opposition parties have convened a session of parliamentary parties in the Parliament House to devise a strategy to go ahead with the no-trust motion.
The joint opposition has a total strength of 162 members but several PTI members have defected and announced to join them in favour of their resolution. The PTI has not called for a meeting of its parliamentary party, fearing that the dissident members may call their own separate meeting which will send a bad signal for the ruling party.
According to media reports, the NA speaker on Thursday issued guidelines for members in view of strict security arrangements being made for the session. Police, FC and Rangers personnel have been deployed in the red zone to ensure foolproof security for the extraordinary session of the lower house of the parliament.
According to the speaker’s notification: “no visitor/guest/security guard of the ministers/parliamentarians will be allowed in the precincts of Parliament House and it would be advisable to restrict them up to D-Chowk, in front of Parliament Lodges.”
To avoid traffic congestion, it said, a shuttle service will operate between Parliament Lodges, government hostels and Parliament House to facilitate members of parliament.
