ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari is addressing the joint session of Pakistan’s parliament amid loud protest chants from opposition lawmakers, mostly from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party on Monday. 

Pakistan’s president is constitutionally required to address both houses of parliament at the start of the first session of each parliamentary year. Zardari, who previously served as Pakistan’s president from 2018-2013, has addressed joint sessions of the parliament seven times before. 

Pakistani presidents’ addresses to parliament have been marred by noisy protests from opposition lawmakers in the past. As soon as Zardari started his speech, PTI lawmakers started banging their desks and shouting slogans in favor of their party’s founder, former prime minister Imran Khan. 

“It is my singular privilege as your civilian president to address for the eighth time the august house at the beginning of another parliamentary year,” Zardari said amid loud chants by opposition members. 

Earlier, state broadcaster Radio Pakistan said stringent security arrangements were put in place at the Parliament House. Quoting the National Assembly Secretariat, it said entry for guests was prohibited while media representatives would be allowed in “limited numbers.”

The president’s address takes place as Pakistan navigates a tricky path to economic recovery after a prolonged macroeconomic crisis. Pakistan’s government says its economic reforms over the past one year have yielded fruit, pointing to improving macroeconomic indicators such as a decline in inflation, current account surplus and increase in exports. 

The country, however, faces surging militancy in its western provinces bordering Afghanistan. Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) have reported an increase in attacks launched by religiously motivated militants and separatist outfits since November 2022, dealing a blow to Pakistan’s efforts to root out militancy. 

The Shehbaz Sharif-led coalition government is also grappling with political instability as its tensions with Khan’s PTI persist. The former prime minister continues to remain popular from behind bars, with his party leading a large protest calling for his release from prison last year that involved clashes with law enforcers. 

Both sides attempted to break the political deadlock in the country by holding negotiations in December 2024. However, after three rounds of talks, the negotiations failed as the PTI pulled out in January, citing the government’s failure to form judicial commissions to investigate protests it led in May 2023 and November 2024.