Zardari meets Fazl to discuss 'key legislation amid joint sitting reports'

ISLAMABAD: Amid reports of government summoning a joint session of parliament for the passage of key legislation, President Asif Ali Zardari on Saturday held meeting with Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman.

The president along with Minister for Interior Senator Mohsin Naqvi arrived at Fazl's residence in the federal capital.

The meeting was also attended by JUI-F leaders including Maulana Abdul Ghafoor, Maulana Asad Mehmood, Aslam Ghauri and Engineer Ziaur Rehman.

Both leaders held detailed deliberation on potential key legislation likely to be tabled in the joint sitting next week.

Without divulging details of the legislation, the sources said important matters including current political situation also came under discussion.

During the meeting, Zardari also gifted a gun to Maulana Fazl.

Meanwhile, the federal government has reportedly decided to summon the joint session of parliament on August 28. Sources claimed that the lawmakers have been instructed to ensure their presence in the meeting.

President Zardari has also summoned the session of the National Assembly on August 26 (Monday) and the Senate on August 27 (Tuesday) under Article 54(1) of the Constitution.

The meeting came two days after after PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari met Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to deliberate on the ongoing political situation and discuss potential key legislation.

Sources told Geo News that the coalition government led by PM Shehbaz took the PPP leadership into confidence on the "important legislation".

It is pertinent to mention here that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and JUI-F had reached a consensus on cooperation in the National Assembly and the Senate.

The consensus was reached following PTI leaders' meeting with Fazl at the latter’s residence a day earlier.

Speaking to journalists after the meeting, PTI spokesperson Raoof Hasan said that it was a meeting between leadership of two parties adding that negotiating teams of two sides would continue to meet and move forward in the National Assembly and the Senate with mutual consultation.

For his part, JUI-F's Ziaur Rehman noted that the parties' committees will decide matters regarding legislative issues in the National Assembly and the Senate.

Rehman further said that a two-member committee comprising Senators Shibli Faraz and Kamran Murtaza will deal with legislative matters in the upper house.