ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi has summoned a joint session of the Parliament on Thursday (tomorrow) at 5 pm.

According to the press wing of the President’s House on Tuesday, the president will address the joint session of the Parliament. A joint session of Parliament is convened under Articles 54(a) and 56(3) of the Constitution.

The development comes after the federal government overcame its reluctance to President Alvi’s address to the joint sitting of the Parliament and agreed to send him an official request in this regard.

According to the sources, the reservations of National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf had also been removed. The president, who was appointed during the tenure of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), had been formally invited to address the joint session of the Parliament.

The sources said that the federal government, coalition parties, and the speaker’s office had held a lengthy discussion on the matter. They had come to the conclusion that the president’s address to the joint session was essential for the new parliamentary year.

The source said that the government was earlier considering other options apart from the president’s address.

They said previously, it was hinted that a special joint sitting of the Parliament before the commencement of the new Parliamentary year was likely to mushroom into another constitutional controversy as President Alvi has refused to deliver the address based on the text provided by the government.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022