ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari has summoned the spring session of the National Assembly on April 7.

“The president has summoned the assembly session to meet at the Parliament House on Monday (April 7) at 5pm under Article 54(1) of the Constitution,” a statement issued by the National Assembly Secretariat said on Saturday.

During the last session, which ended on March 21, the National Assembly witnessed protests from the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), besides a fiery debate on the terrorist attack on the Jaffar Express in Balochistan.

The members during the last session also initiated a debate on the mandatory address of President Asif Zardari to the joint sitting of the parliament.

Several assembly sittings were marred due to the absence of the ministers. In a rare move to protest the absence of ministers, Deputy Speaker Ghulam Mustafa Shah adjourned the house proceedings without taking up any agenda items.

Presiding over one of the briefest sittings of the lower house of parliament, the deputy speaker said it was unacceptable that ministers failed to attend the session, despite clear instructions from the prime minister.

He noted that the ministers were not taking their responsibilities seriously, terming their attitude unfortunate. Recalling the recent expansion of the federal cabinet, Mr Shah regretted that collective responsibility was being collectively ignored. He said that a letter had also been written to the prime minister conveying the displeasure of the house over the absence of ministers.

Earlier, similar observations had been made by Presiding Officer Abdul Qadir Patel, who was presiding over the sitting in the absence of the speaker and the deputy speaker.

Published in Dawn, March 30th, 2025