President asked to do constitutional duty

ISLAMABAD- Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Tuesday said the President needs to address the joint session of the Parliament to fulfill a constitutional obligation.

The Prime Minister said on the floor of the House that the President was part of the Parliament and his address was mandatory under the Constitution.

"Parliament is a constituency of the President and we invite him to come to his constituency and address the joint sitting of the Parliament. First session of the newly elected Parliament starts with the President's address. It would be unconstitutional if the President does not address the joint session of the Parliament," Gilani said.      

The Prime Minister said that the President did not address the joint sitting in the past, which was unconstitutional.

"I heard the press conference of the President when I was in Jeddah, in which he had said that he would respect and any decision handed down by the Parliament. Our objective is to win the supremacy of the Parliament, which we did when the President so said," he added.    

In response to another point of order about long march of lawyers' community for the restoration of deposed judges, the Prime Minister said that a committee has been constituted for this purpose. The committee comprises Raja Pervez Ashraf, Khusheed Shah and Advisor to the Prime Minister Rehman Malik, he said.

The Prime Minister said that the committee would come out with a strategy to deal with lawyers' gathering in front of the Parliament on Jun 12 and 13. In this regard, we are also coordinating with provincial governments, the Prime Minister maintained.

"We will facilitate the peaceful procession of lawyers community and civil society. We are taking every step to maintain law and order. They will decide about the route of the lawyers so that the general public and the parliamentarians are not inconvenienced," he said.        

Earlier, PML (Q) Parliamentarian Mian Riaz Hussain Pirzada referring to the Article 56 of the Constitution, said that the President should address the joint session of the National Assembly at the start of each year.

"In the past, President did not address the joint session of the Parliament. The President had said that he wanted to work with the newly Parliament. "If he wants to work with new parliament, he should address the joint session before the budget," he said.

He said, "if President does not address the joint sitting, it would be a question mark. He said that the Speaker should give ruling about it.   

Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Khusheed Shah said that in the previous PML-Q government when we were in opposition, we have been demanding that the President should address the Parliament but it did not take any measure. He said that the President should address the join session of the House.               

Imtiaz Safdar Warraich on a point of order said that it would be unconstitutional if President does not address the House.

Speaker National Assembly Dr Fehmida Mirza said that the President should address the joint session of the Parliament. She said that in this regard, the Prime Minister would move summary to President.

Responding to the point of orders of various Parliamentarians, Advisor to the Prime Minister on Interior, Rehman Malik, said that federal government is not sealing Islamabad on Jun 12 in a bid to stop lawyers in front of the Parliament. He said that the government would take various steps to control law and order and for the protection of life and property of the people.

"Islamabad is already under threat. We would take every measure for security. We would facilities and welcome lawyers' procession," he said.

To handle this situation, he said the committee is working about it and discussed with the PML-N leadership, lawyers' associations and civil society.    

Answering a calling attention notice about loadshedding of electricity in Karachi, Federal Minster for Water Raja Pervez Ashraf said that it is problem of demand and supply. He said that Karachi Electric Supply Corporation (KESC) is responsible for the shortage. He said that the previous government had privatized the KESC.

"The previous government made weak contract with this company. We have serious reservations about the privatization of the KESC. We would review this matter," he said and added that 500mw power is being supplied to Karachi.

Haider Abbas Rizvi of MQM said that during the last one and half month, the government reduced loadshedding of Karachi but now it has increased from 10 to 12 hours.

The Minster said that loadshedding in Karachi was increased because four powerhouses of the KESC have been closed due to technical fault. He said that loadshedding was increased due to peak of heat season and it would be reduced at the end of August.                

Minister for Health Sherry Rehman said government has allocated funds in the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) for the cure of non-communicable diseases.

Speaking on a calling attention notice, the Minster said that the programme will be reviewed after the budget. Under this programme, it will have provision for diseases like cancer, diabetes and thalassemia.

She said the government is also launching a campaign through Pakistan Television and private TV channels to create awareness about changing one's life-style to reduce chances of the disease.

Sherry said the Centre would direct the provincial governments to provide 'gluco meters' to all the basic health units for diagnosing the disease. She said that ministry's focus has been mainly on prevention of communicable diseases and had not concentrated on non-communicable diseases like diabetes.

Later, the Speaker, on the private member day, referred five bills of the parliamentarians to the concerned standing committee.

The capital Development Authority (Amendment), Bill, 2008, The Tibb-e-Unani, Ayurvedic, Herbal and other Non-Allopathic Medicine Bill, 2008, Pakistan Penal Code (Amendment) Bill, 2008, the Home Based Workers Social Protection Bill, 2008, The Prevention of Anti-Women Practices (Criminal Law Amendment) Bill, 2008 and The Pakistan Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2008 were referred to concerned standing committee.