Erdogan to address joint sitting on February 14: Speaker

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will address the joint sitting of parliament on February 14 (Friday). Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaiser made this announcement during National Assembly session on Thursday. He said that he would hold consultations with parliamentary leaders of all political parties in this regard.

Erdogan is expected to arrive in Pakistan for a two-day visit on February 13. The Turkish president was scheduled to pay an official visit to Pakistan on October 23 last year to strengthen the relations between the two countries and to extend full support to Pakistan's stance on the Kashmir issue.

The visit, however, was postponed after Turkey's involvement with a military offensive against Kurdish militants in Syria that raised tensions with Washington and other Western nations.

Erodgan last visited Pakistan in 2016 during the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government, during which he also addressed the joint sitting of the parliament. He was accompanied by his wife Emine and a high-level delegation.

They were received at the Nur Khan Airbase by then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, his cabinet members and senior officials, first lady Kulsoom Nawaz, his daughter Maryam Nawaz and his younger brother Shehbaz Sharif.

Later, the National Assembly on private members' day passed two bills - "The Pakistan Institute for Parliamentary Services (Amendment) Bill, 2019" and "The National Commission on the Status of Women (Amendment) Bill, 2019."

"The Pakistan Institute for Parliamentary Services (Amendment) Bill, 2019" was tabled by Naveed Qamar of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in the House for passage. The House passed the bill with majority. According to objective of the bill, the amendment in the Pakistan Institute for Parliamentary Services Act, 2008, aims at extending the services of the institute by including the provisions of in-service trainings for the federal and provincial government's officials to equip them with the knowledge of parliamentary and legislative affairs of the country.

The National Commission on the Status of Women (Amendment) Bill, 2019 was tabled by Aliya Kamran in the House for passage. The House passed the bill with majority. The bill aims to provide more opportunity to new members so that they may be able to bring a new pragmatic approach to the Commission.

Three bills; "The Criminal Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2020," "Islamabad Capital Territory Child Protection (Amendment) Bill, 2020" and "The Criminal Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2020" (Insertion of new section 409A) were introduced in the House.

The House rejected "The National Commission on the Rights of Child (Amendment) Bill, 2020" as moved by Nafessa Inayatullah Khan Khattak of PTI. Federal Minister for Human Rights Dr Shireen Mazari said that these clauses already existed in the law. Khattak said that the bill should be referred to relevant standing committee for further discussion. However, the House rejected the bill through a voice vote.