Budget session from June 2

ISLAMABAD - The President has summoned the National Assembly budget session which will start from June 2 while the Senate has been convened on June 4, said a Press release of the National Assembly Secretariat here Monday. The document says, "In exercise of the Powers conferred by clause (1) of Article 54 of the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the President has summoned the National Assembly to meet on Monday, June 2 at 5:00 p.m." After summoning the National Assembly session to be held on June 02, President Pervez Musharraf has also convened Senate session on June 04. The sources in the ruling coalition disclosed to The Nation that before tabling of Finance Bill for fiscal year 2008-09 the much talked about draft constitutional package would be tabled before the National Assembly. The sources in the government informed that most likely the Budget document would be tabled before the National Assembly on June 7(Saturday) while the National Assembly session was called on June 2 and according to the constitutional experts before the tabling of the budget the National Assembly could take up routine business. The sources believed that the stepped up activities of the PPP leadership to take the coalition partners into confidence on the draft constitutional package indicated that the draft of the constitutional package would be tabled before the National Assembly and as per the rules of business the same would be referred to the committee for scrutiny and later the matter could be placed for open debate in the House or the Joint sitting of the parliament sometime after the passage of the annual budget. The sources in the PPP informed that the party leadership was quite perturbed over the overwhelming response to the deposed Chief Justice of Pakistan's address to lawyers' convention in Faisalabad and for that reason they wanted to table the draft constitutional package before the parliament prior to  the lawyers long march on June 10. Another disturbing factor for Pakistan Peoples Party was the PML(N) decision to extend complete support to the lawyers movement and in the presence of the conducive and supportive atmosphere in the Punjab the lawyers would definitely make a great show on June 10 making it difficult for the rulers to stand in the way of judges restoration. The sources further disclosed that by tabling the draft constitutional package before the parliament ahead of the lawyers long march on June 10 the ruling political elite believed that they would able to break the lawyers movement.

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