President Zardari addresses joint session of parliament amid noisy opposition protests – Pakistan

Presi­dent Asif Ali Zardari is addressing a joint session of parliament attended by MNAs and senators.

This is his eighth time doing so.

Zardari, who is serving as the country’s president for the second time, has already addre­ssed the joint sitting of parliament seven times, including once during the present regime last year.

It is expected that the PTI-led opposition will stage a noisy protest during his speech as it had done last year when President Zardari addre­ssed the joint sitting.

In his address last year, Presi­dent Zardari had highlighted the need for shunning political hatred and establishing political harmony to overcome the crisis confronting Pakistan toge­ther.

He had also underlined the need for eradicating terrorism, ens­u­ring ease of doing business, focusing on health and education, poverty etc.

As per Article 56 of the Constitution, the president addresses both houses of parliament at the start of the first session of each parliamentary year. The NA secretariat has made strict security measures for the joint session.

Sources in the Presidency told Dawn that in his today’s address, President Zardari would outline the federal government’s performance and governance issues.

The address comes at a time when differences between the ruling coalition partners, PML-N and Mr Zardari’s PPP, have started becoming more visible. While the PPP has no ministers in the federal cabinet, its votes are integral to the survival of the ruling coalition.

Several leaders including PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari recently expressed displeasure over what they called the “indifferent attitude” of the PML-N with its ally. PPP leaders complained of being sidelined particularly in Punjab, where the PML-N is in power.

Also, the PPP-led Sindh government has strongly opposed the PML-N government’s move to carve out new canals from the Indus River to irrigate barren land in Punjab’s Cholistan area. The Sindh government claims the new canals would reduce the province’s share of water and may turn the cultivable land barren.

More to follow