ISLAMABAD: The government has decided to hold a marathon session of the National Assembly spread over 10 weeks from June 5 in order to meet the constitutional requirement of remaining in session for a minimum of 130 days during a parliamentary year.

During the session, the government will present the federal budget for the financial year 2020-21, besides taking up pending legislative work.

This was disclosed by Babar Awan, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Parliamentary Affairs, through a video message on Tuesday, a week after the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) criticised the government for not complying with the parliamentary calendar and expressed an apprehension that the National Assembly might not be able to fulfil the constitutional requirement of being in session for at least 130 days during a parliamentary year.

The parliamentary year of the present assembly started on Aug 13. The National Assembly has so far held 77 sittings and in order to fulfil the provisions of Article 54(2) of the Constitution, it must be in session for another 53 “working days” by Aug 13 this year.

In fact, the actual number of sittings made by the National Assembly so far is only 51 as the two sandwich days between Friday and Monday are also counted as “working days” of the assembly.

“It will be a marathon session and perhaps the longest one in the country’s history as it will begin on June 5 and continue till Aug 13,” Mr Awan said, adding that his ministry had already prepared a summary in this regard.

The adviser, who had previously served as the law minister in the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) government under former president Asif Zardari, said it was important “symbolically and constitutionally” that the parliament complete its number of mandatory sittings.

The adviser said that he had already spoken to Prime Minister Imran Khan and NA Speaker Asad Qaiser about the constitutional requirement of mandatory sittings.

The adviser said the opposition would also be consulted about the agenda before start of the session in a meeting of the House Business Advisory Committee.

Besides presentation and passage of the federal budget, Mr Awan said, the assembly would carry out some important legislative business, including amendments to the Anti-Money Laundering Act.

He said the government might have to convene a joint sitting of the parliament during the same period to get passed the anti-money laundering bill as it had lapsed after one of the two houses did not adopt it.

Responding to the criticism in some circles that the parliament is being called only to meet the constitutional requirement, Mr Awan said the parliament would not only complete its mandatory sittings but would also be meeting “to complete its work” and take decisions in the interest of the nation.

“There is no question of showing any constitutional negligence or leaving any constitutional vacuum in the working of parliament,” he concluded.

Previously, the government had succeeded in meeting the same constitutional requirement for the Senate when it remained in session continuously for almost two months in January and February. Under the Constitution, the Senate “shall meet for not less than one hundred and ten (110) working days in each year”.

Both the government and the opposition had reached an understanding to drag the Senate session only to fulfil the constitutional requirement despite having no serious business in hand.

Published in Dawn, May 20th, 2020