ISLAMABAD - The stormy sessions of National Assembly and Senate would be held here today (Monday) with agenda to complete the formalities for holding of presidential elections on Tuesday in smooth and transparent fashion.
Ahead of the National Assembly and Senate sessions at 4.00pm on Monday, the parliamentary parties meetings of major political parties are scheduled where they would be formulating their strategies about the presidential elections on Tuesday.
The National Assembly would be adopting a resolution to convert the Parliament House into a polling booth for the presidential elections and the same evening the charge of the National Assembly Secretariat would be handed over to the Election Commission of Pakistan for conduct of the elections on Tuesday (July 30).
The similar exercise would be conducted in all four provincial capitals, where the provincial assemblies would carry out the same exercise for voting in the presidential elections being part of the electoral college.
Sources in the National Assembly Secretariat informed The Nation that they have completed their part for holding of presidential elections and Speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq had given direction to the secretariat officials to extend all-out support to the officials of the Election Commission of Pakistan in smooth conduct of elections.
The chief election commissioner would be the returning officer for these elections, the judges of high courts would act as presiding officers while the Election Commission of Pakistan’s officials would be the polling officers.
The Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentary Party meeting would be held before the session on Monday and they would finalise their plan of boycott and the protest the party would be planning to launch in Monday sessions of National Assembly and Senate sessions.
Sources in the party informed that they would not let the sessions go on smoothly and would register their protest over the way the ruling PML-N had manipulated the presidential elections.
Sources in the party further said that none of the PPP parliamentarians or MPs of its allies would attend the joint session of the Parliament for presidential elections on Tuesday (July 30). The sources further said that PPP and its allies would give the ruling alliance a tough time on Monday.
On the other hand Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) has also called its parliamentary party meeting before the Senate and NA sessions. The meeting, which would be chaired by Prime Minister Mohammad Nawaz Sharif, would finalise the strategy for the presidential elections.
It is pertinent to mention here that PML-N has already directed its parliamentarians to ensure their presence in the federal and provincial capitals for participation in the presidential elections and all those failing to meet the party’s directive would be subjected to the disciplinary action.
Sources in the party informed The Nation that the party would also evolve the strategy how to counter the PPP MPs in case of protest and how to have smooth sailing in the whole exercise.
Meanwhile, Election Commission of Pakistan has also completed the printing of the ballot papers and the transportation of the ballot papers to provincial capitals would be complete by Monday afternoon.