The News said on Thursday that President Asif Ali Zardari will speak at the joint session of parliament to begin the parliamentary year following the general elections on February 8.
The meeting will start at 4 p.m. and was called by the president using the authority granted by Articles 54 (1) and 56 (3) of the Constitution. President Zardari had previously addressed the joint session of the parliament six times while serving as the nation’s head of state from 2008 to 2013, therefore this would be his seventh address.
In addition, the president has used the authority granted to him by Article 54 (1) of the Constitution to call a NA session for this Friday, starting at 10:30 am.
The joint session was originally set for April 16 but was moved to today.
It should be mentioned that once the country’s new legislative year began, this will be the first joint session after the members of the upper and lower Houses were elected.
Arif Alvi, the outgoing president, was unable to call a joint session since the Senate elections had not yet taken place, even though polls were scheduled for February 8.