ISLAMABAD: As the National Assembly begins its first session of the summer on Monday, friends and foes of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif would both surely be keen to hear from him on some of the burning issues that face Pakistan as the government completes a full year in office.

But with the experience of his parliamentary conduct from the past 11 months fresh in their minds, lawmakers will be kept guessing whether the prime minister will come to the session at all. No matter that the hottest topic for debate around the country is the perceived troubles in his government’s relations with the military. No matter even that certain groups have vowed to take to the streets to challenge the election that brought him into power for the third time.

The session, tentatively scheduled to continue until May 16, is likely to be the last regular session of the current financial year before the government unveils its second budget in early June.

Amid heated political discussions outside parliament, which coincided with a sudden rise in temperatures after an unusually wet spring, the house just might see some fireworks at the start of the session, while more might follow in the days to come.

It remains to be seen whether the government prefers to inform the house on certain important issues or will it let opposition parties seek debate through adjournment motions, or simply raise such matters in speeches on points of order.

But opposition parties are likely to demand — as they have done in the past, albeit with limited success — that the prime minister “take them into confidence” on issues such as the alleged standoff with the army, from the treason trial of former army chief Pervez Musharraf to the currently stalled peace talks with Taliban rebels.

Any attempt by Defence Minister Khawaja Asif to assuage opposition fears, regarding the military’s grouse, has little chances of success. This is because some of his own outbursts, including those recently as well as those from the distant past, have been blamed by his critics for straining relations with the army.

And for some months now, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan — who is in charge of the peace process with the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) — is being viewed as a red rage by the opposition in both houses of parliament.

The prime minister has come to the lower house only a few times since the present government took office in early June, hardly keeping a promise made on his last visit to the house in late February — when the interior minister announced a new national security policy — that he would not disappoint lawmakers with a prolonged absence.

The opposition-controlled Senate has been even more unfortunate, not graced by the prime minister even once during his present term. An unprecedented opposition-forced amendment in the Senate rules of business last month now requires the prime minister to attend house proceedings at least once a week. But this too was ignored with obvious disdain.

The ruling PML-N has an idea what mood the opposition will be in at a meeting of the joint business advisory committee, called by Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq for Monday afternoon. Scheduled to take place before the start of the session at 4pm, the committee will formally decide the duration of the session and possible business to be transacted.

Apart from issues like the government-military rift and the prospects of peace talks with the TTP following their refusal to extend a ceasefire, the Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf and its allies are likely to bring up their grievances in the house. The PTI has been complaining about the alleged rigging that took place in the general elections of 2013 and has planned marches on the first anniversary of that vote.

The PPP has made it clear it will have no truck with the PTI-led protests. It has also distanced itself from allegations that the PML-N government had taken sides against the Inter-Services Intelligence in a row with Geo TV over the mysterious shooting that wounded senior journalist Hamid Mir in Karachi last month.

It will be worth watching what stance the JUI-F takes in the new session, especially after two of its lawmakers resigned from their cabinet positions last month over not being given portfolios of their choice.

It will also be interesting to see whether the MQM sticks with the PPP in the National Assembly, after recently joining the government of Sindh.