The Lower House on November 1 had completed 124 sittings and needed 6 more sittings before November 15, when the parliamentary year would end.
It has been a practice that the session is usually summoned on Friday and the House meets again after Saturday and Sunday for Monday and Tuesday and then resumes its business on Friday to complete one week. Against three days' proceedings, the members are paid for the whole week.
It is interesting to note that seven treasury and opposition members, who had filed privilege motion against Information and Broadcasting Minister Rashid Ahmed for twice walking out of a recent meeting of the House standing committee, would press for the motion to be taken up during the session.
According to parliamentary sources, prime aim of the session is to fulfil the requirement. However, the government plans to introduce some legislative business as well.
As there is no indication of summoning the joint sitting of the two Houses of the Parliament, this parliamentary year is most likely to end without presidential address.
Though the Constitution uses the word 'shall' for a presidential address to the two Houses summoned together, President Musharraf is expected not to fulfil this requirement.
"Opposition lawmakers will have to mend their ways, before President Musharraf decides to summon the special session, which apparently is not possible for them," Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sher Afgan told Business Recorder. He said that he had received no direction or indication from President House vis-à-vis the presidential address.
The minister said that the government would not hesitate in allowing the treasury and opposition members to speak on earthquake operations. "Healthy criticism is always welcome. But to draw political mileage out of the tragedy is deplorable, as some opposition speakers tried to do during the previous session," he contended.
Combined opposition, meanwhile, will file adjournment motions with the National Assembly and the Senate secretariat respectively on Tuesday about the reported 'abduction' of more than 50 children from devastated Bagh district of Azad Kashmir.
According to opposition sources, the opposition plans to go all-out against the government for its 'inability' to cope with the massive relief and rehabilitation task.
Pakistan Peoples' Party Parliamentarians will press the government for shelving the purchase of over a $1 billion surveillance planes deal with Sweden and stop work on the new General Headquarters in Islamabad, party sources said.
When asked about the opposition's response to Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz's offer to head a parliamentary committee for overseeing the relief and rehabilitation activities, sources said, opposition groups could collectively respond to it Tuesday.