Zardari to address jt session of parliament Sept 19
Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari will address a joint session of parliament in Islamabad on September 19, as the contours of the ruling coalition are set to change.
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Wednesday called on Zardari at the Aiwan-e-Sadr here and invited him to address parliament to fulfil his obligation to do so under Article 56 of the constitution, The News reported on Thursday.
Gilani also urged the president to accept the resignations tendered by nine ministers belonging to coalition partner Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).
The ministers had resigned May 12 after the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) that leads the coalition and to which both Zardari and Gilani belong reneged on its promise to reinstate some 60 Supreme Court and High Court judges former president Pervez Musharraf sacked after declaring an emergency last November.
Till now, however, the portfolios allotted to the PML-N ministers had been kept vacant in the hope that the party would return but now, with the prime minister recommending that the resignations be accepted, "this has finally sealed all chances of a PPP-PML-N reunion", The News said.
Prior to extending the invitation to the president, Gilani called an informal cabinet meeting at which it was decided to advise the president to address the joint session of parliament.
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