The government on Monday withdrew an ordinance which the PPP alleged was promulgated without the approval of President Asif Ali Zardari, hours after the latter staged a walkout from the National Assembly to express its displeasure.
Sources told Dawn that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had forwarded a summary advising President Zardari to withdraw the Special Economic Zones (Amendment) Ordinance, 2026.
In his remarks during the year’s first NA session, PPP’s Naveed Qamar had not specified which ordinance was promulgated without the president’s approval when he led a walkout by the party, saying it would not participate in proceedings until the situation was addressed.
Sources in the PPP, however, had confirmed to Dawn he was referring to an ordinance related to special economic zones.
Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, meanwhile, said that nowadays there was an e-office through which files were approved online. “This ordinance was also approved. Staff to staff, it was considered approved,” he said in a statement.
The minister acknowledged that when the ordinance’s file was received, it did not bear the president’s signature.
“It had already been printed. A mistake was made which has been rectified,” he stated. “As a goodwill gesture, these bills were not notified because the president did not approve them,” he said.
He noted that the president had 10 days to give his assent to bills passed by a joint sitting of Parliament.
“As a goodwill gesture, these bills were not notified because the president did not approve them,” he said.
“The PPP and the PML-N have a good relationship and because of this relationship, the ordinance has been withdrawn,” the minister said. “In the future, we will approach these matters with understanding,” he concluded.
After the withdrawal of the ordinance, PPP’s Shazia Marri said the party would now attend Tuesday’s NA session.
PPP stages walkout in NA, calls move ‘shameful’
Speaking on the floor of the NA earlier in the day on a point of order, PPP’s Qamar said, “There is a very serious constitutional anomaly taking place.”
He highlighted that Parliament’s primary responsibility was to legislate. “Without the assemblies, there is only one way of legislating, which is if the president promulgates an ordinance under Article 89(1) of the Constitution,” he said.
“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.
He said that for the first time, the government was “deviating from the Constitution”.
“How can you promulgate an ordinance and put it into effect without getting the president’s approval on it?” he asked. 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 situation was addressed, he announced a walkout along with other members of his party.
For his part, Law Minister Tarar had 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 the premier’s 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.
“It has been brought to our notice … there is something circulating on social media. Let me recheck,” he said.
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.
“Maybe it is part of that or it is not part of that,” he said.
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.
He said he would speak to the relevant quarters and get back to PPP’s Qamar.
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
Separately, NA Speaker Sadiq also 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.
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