Pak Parliament joint session stalled after Opp protest

The joint sitting of Pakistan Parliament, called to discuss the country's future course of action after India revoked Jammu and Kashmir's special status, was adjourned on Tuesday following differences between the treasury and the Opposition over the language of a resolution against India.

After the start of the meeting, Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Azam Khan Swati presented the resolution, condemning "violation" of the Line of Control (LoC) by India, but it did not mention the revocation of Article 370 from the Indian Constitution that accorded special status to Jammu and Kashmir.

Opposition lawmakers staged protest at the omission and threatened to boycott which prompted National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaisar to adjourn the session with the promise to reconvene shortly after amending the resolution.

However, the joint sitting failed to resume the proceedings as the two sides had not yet agreed on the language of the resolution.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Ahsan Iqbal told media that the Opposition was forced to protest due to failure of the government to mention the scrapping of Article 370.

"India took such a major step and the resolution does not even mention it; this is why opposition protested today," he said.

He said that Prime Minister Imran Khan was not attending the session while Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi was out of the country.

The joint session of upper and lower houses was summoned by President Arif Alvi on Monday after the Indian government revoked Article 370 and bifurcated Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories -- Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

According to the agenda issued on Monday by the National Assembly Secretariat for the joint sitting, the House may discuss the "surge in "unprovoked firing and shelling on civilian population", use of "cluster bombs" by Indian forces in PoK, deployment of additional troops and "atrocities" in Kashmir and recent developments.

The joint sitting is expected to pass a resolution to condemn the Indian government’s action at the conclusion of the sitting. So far it is not clear if the meeting would conclude in day or would continue for another day.

The demand for convening the joint sitting was made by the Opposition and government responded positively to it.

The joint sittings take place on key occasions and offer policy guidelines for the government.