President Alvi rejects summary seeking first NA session on Feb 29

President Dr Arif Alvi on Monday rejected the summary to summon the inaugural session of the National Assembly on February 29, in which newly-elected lawmakers will take oath.

According to the sources, the president wanted to resolve the reserved seats issue before the summoning of the session.

However, as per the constitution, the speaker can summon the National Assembly session on the 21st day after the general elections are held, if the president fails to convene the session.

PPP Senator Sherry Rehman also voiced her concerns, saying "no room for the President to put conditions on this."

“Article 91(2) [of the Constitution] provides that the National Assembly shall have to meet on the 21st day on which the general election to the assembly is held, unless sooner summoned by the president," her post on the microblogging site X read.

“It means explicitly that the power of the president under Article 54(1) is restricted to a maximum of 21 days with respect to the inaugural session of the NA,” she added.

On the other hand, outgoing NA speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf has decided to summon the session of the lower house of parliament on February 29, sources said.