Opposition requisitions Senate session.

Byline: Imran Mukhtar

ISLAMABAD -- The opposition parties Monday submitted a requisition to summon the Senate claiming it wanted to discuss the legality of the ordinances that have not been laid in the Upper House by the ruling party.

The opposition that is in majority in the 104-member house has requisitioned the house for second time after the government did not called the sitting of the house for the last around four months.

The requisition signed by the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate Raja Zafarul Haq besides over 30 lawmakers of the opposition has been submitted with the Senate Secretariat under Article 54 (3) read with Article 61 of the Constitution,

Under the Constitution, the chairman Senate is bound to summon the session 'on a requisition signed by not less than one-fourth of the total membership' of the house.

The requisition says that the session should be summoned to discuss the six point agenda including 'legality and constitutionality of the Ordinances that have been laid in the National Assembly and not in the Senate of Pakistan as required by Article 89 of the Constitution' besides debating the 'security and political developments in the region, especially in the Occupied Kashmir.'

Wants to debate legality of ordinances not laid in upper house

The other agenda include discussion on the 'continuing political victimization of the opposition, gas and power scarcity in the domestic and industrial sectors, prince hike resulting in the unbearable burden on the common man and devastating daily occurrences of crime against the children in Pakistan.'

The government has not summoned the regular session of Senate for the last around four months and the decision will create a constitutional crisis for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government as the house under the constitution has to meet at least 110 days during each parliamentary year.

In this connection, Senate Secretariat through a letter written to the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs has said that...