The alleged issuance of an ordinance without the assent of President Asif Ali Zardari saw the ruling PML-N and its key ally PPP on a collision course in the National Assembly on Monday.
The issue was raised in the House by PPP’s Syed Naveed Qamar while speaking on a point of order on the opening day of the year’s first NA session.
“For the first time in Pakistan’s black legislative history, an ordinance has been promulgated without the approval or the signature of the president, which is shameful and against the Constitution,“ he alleged, without specifying what the ordinance was.
Sources in the PPP, however, said he was referring to an ordinance related to special economic zones (SEZs).
In his remarks, the PPP leader said that the party had not seen such a practice even during military dictatorships.
“I do not know what the government’s excuse is for doing this,” he remarked. He made it clear that the law would have no standing anywhere, including in a court of law and Parliament.
Declaring that the PPP would not participate in proceedings until the anomaly was addressed, he announced a walkout along with other members of his party.
For his part, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar attempted to call the PPP members back to no avail.
“Please come back and join the proceedings. Let me explain that things are going in the right direction,“ he said.
He explained that an ordinance was issued on advice and “there is no doubt that the president has to assent to it”.
Tarar insisted that Article 89 of the Constitution was subject to Article 48(1) of the Constitution under which the advice of the prime minister was binding on the president.
He noted that “nine or 10 bills and ordinances” were pending presidential assent, and the ministry only came to know on Sunday that President Zardari had given his assent to those bills. He conceded that the ordinance in question may or may not be among the ones assented to by the President.
He said the deeming clause is invoked under Article 75 of the Constitution when the bills returned by the president and passed by the Parliament in a joint sitting are not assented to within ten days. “But we never notified them out of respect for the president,“ he remarked.
Later, PPP MNA Hussain Tariq returned to the assembly only to point out the lack of quorum. After a headcount, NA Speaker Ayaz Sadiq suspended the proceedings.
Subsequently, the session was adjourned till 11am on Tuesday.
NA speaker gets ball rolling on opposition leader’s appointment
Meanwhile, NA Speaker Sadiq sought proposals for the nomination of the opposition leader in the lower house of Parliament during Monday’s session.
The post has been vacant since August 2025, following the disqualification of PTI’s Omar Ayub by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). While the opposition has accused the government of delaying the appointment despite them putting forward Mahmood Khan Achakzai’s name for the role, Sadiq has maintained that the delay was because the matter was sub judice.
At the outset of Monday’s session, Sadiq reiterated his stance that he could not initiate the nomination process earlier as the matter was subjudice and the NA Secretariat had been made a party in the cases.
He said that as PTI’s Ayub had withdrawn his petitions in the Supreme Court and high courts against his removal, the nomination process could now be formally initiated.
“This issue had to head towards resolution only then. We would have done so if we had not been made a party [to the case],” Sadiq said.
Addressing the opposition benches, he said proposals for nominating the opposition leader may be submitted in his chambers by 3pm tomorrow (Tuesday), as per Rule 39(ii) of the Rules of Procedures.
Rule 39 confirms it is the sole prerogative of the speaker to ask the opposition at any time to submit a name, after which the opposition may present it.
Sadiq stated that the nominations should be accompanied by the signatures of members of the opposition. The count will be made at 3pm on January 14 in accordance with Rule 39(iii) of the NA rules, the speaker announced.
The MNA having the greatest numerical strength after the signature of the members shall be declared as the opposition leader.
It is worth noting that the opposition had submitted the name of Achakzai — who heads the opposition alliance Tehreek-i-Tahafuz-i-Ayin-i-Pakistan (TTAP) — to the speaker’s office in October 2025 rather than presenting it to the speaker personally.
Speaking in the NA, Sadiq recalled that he had informed PTI Chairman Gohar Ali Khan and opposition chief whip Malik Amir Dogar that the matter was sub judice when they had called on him in November 2025.
He highlighted that he had written letters to the opposition on Nov 19, Dec 5, Dec 19 and Dec 29 to “confirm the status”, following which Dogar submitted the required documents.
Responding to him on the assembly floor, Dogar said he had submitted an application with the signatures of 76 opposition MNAs keeping in view Rule 39.
“We are unanimously willing to provide verification however you want,” he said, reiterating that Achakzai was their choice as per PTI founder Imran Khan’s decision.
Dogar assured the speaker that the opposition would fulfil the required process tomorrow, and requested him to formally notify the opposition leader immediately.
