ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly session that will begin early next week is likely to take up the government’s national security strategy, the outcome of the recent all-party conference and targeted operation against criminals in Karachi.
The NA session commencing on Monday is the first one to be summoned by President Mamnoon Hussain.
“President Mamnoon Hussain, on the advice of the prime minister, has summoned the National Assembly session to meet in the Parliament House, Islamabad, on Monday, 16th September 2013, at 4pm,” an official handout said on Wednesday.
The government is reportedly giving final touches to its national counter-terrorism strategy which is likely to be discussed during the session.
Political parties and all stakeholders are said to be quite eager to know the details of the strategy which is being prepared in the interior ministry. Holding talks with Taliban is said to be one of the main features of the PML-N government’s strategy to end violence in the country.
All parliamentary parties this week gave their nod to the government to hold talks with the Taliban as the first option, instead of a military operation against the militants who have killed thousands of innocent people in the country.
Opposition parties like the PPP, MQM and PTI have submitted a call-attention notice before NA Secretariat, drawing attention of the lower house towards the government’s plan to build a third airport in Islamabad near Rawat. The notice may also be tabled in the session.
The notice was signed by five MNAs — Imran Zafar of PPP, Ali Raza Abidi, Muzammil Qureshi and Salman Baloch of MQM and PTI’s Ali Muhammad.
In the coming session, the issue of formation of NA’s standing committees is also likely to be resolved. The government has already missed the deadline of July 5 of forming these committees. The committees were to be formed within 30 days after the election of the prime minister.