ISLAMABAD: The government has decided to convene a marathon session of National Assembly on July 8 (Wednesday) to make important legislation besides meeting the constitutional requirement regarding the minimum number of sittings per year.

According to the sources, a summary has been sent tot the President to summon the session of National Assembly on Wednesday at 4pm.

They said that the government is contemplating upon summoning a joint sitting of parliament during National Assembly session to take up some "pending legislations", including the anti-money laundering bill and to allow members to speak on Kashmir issue as a year is going to be completed after Indian government's illegal decision to annex occupied territory through a controversial constitutional amendment on August 5 last year.

Under Article 54(2) of the Constitution, the National Assembly is required to be in session for a minimum of 130 days in a parliamentary year.

The parliamentary year of the present assembly starts on Aug 13. The National Assembly has so far held 104 sittings and in order to fulfill the provisions of the Constitution, it must be in session for another 26 "working days" by Aug 13.

In fact, the actual number of sittings made by the National Assembly so far is only 69 as the two sandwich days between Friday and Monday are also counted as "working days" of the assembly.

Article 54(2) of the Constitution says: "There shall be at least three sessions of the National Assembly every year and not more than 120 days shall intervene between the last sitting of the Assembly in one session and the date appointed for its first sitting in the next session.

"Provided that the National Assembly shall meet for no less than 130 working days each year."

It further explains that "working days" includes any day on which there is a joint sitting and any period, not exceeding two days for which the National Assembly is adjourned."

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020