On opposition’s demand: Motion to refer PIA bill for joint session delayed

Speaker defers discussion on the motion for two days .

ISLAMABAD:

The government on Monday deferred for two days discussion on a motion in the National Assembly to refer the Pakistan International Airlines Corporation (Conversion) Bill, 2016, to a joint session of parliament after the opposition demanded more time to discuss it.

On Monday, the government was all set to refer the bill to the joint sitting of Parliament where it planned to use its combined strength in the NA and the Senate to pass the controversial bill.

For this purpose Minister for Climate Change Zahid Hamid moved the motion during Monday’s session. But opposition members raised their hands to present their arguments.



“It is a black day in the history of the country that a bill is being passed when both houses [of Parliament] are divided over an issue and the government wants to bulldoze it,” said Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) Naveed Qamar as he implored the government to allow time to discuss the bill a little more before passing it.

The bill has been controversial since airline’s employees union held a nationwide protest that disrupted flights. While the government managed to pass the bill from the NA, it had been rejected in the Senate.

“Don’t know what magic wand the government has that its (PIA’s) performance will be improved, but these developments are creating more suspicions and confusions,” Qamar remarked.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s Dr Shireen Mazari suggested that the government not rely on its superior numbers (by passing it in joint sitting) but rather opt for building consensus.

“We strongly oppose it (motion to refer bill to joint sitting) but its (bill’s) passage will be disastrous for the country,” she remarked.

Awami Muslim League leader Sheikh Rashid accused the government of land grabbing, scrap selling, and iron dealing as he claimed that Monday’s motion was a clear message to the Senate that the federation had no importance.

Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party’s Chairperson Mahmood Khan Achakzai requested the speaker to wait for few days so that a way out could be developed through consensus. He warned that the way government was moving, it would not have favourable consequences.

Jamaat-e-Islami’s MNA Sahibzada Tariqullah suggested that the bill should be referred to Council of Common Interest instead. His suggestion struck a chord in the house with many opposition lawmakers thumping their desks.

At this Hamid rose and stated that the assertion that the government was bulldozing the bill was unfair since the bill had already been discussed at length by members of all parities in a parliamentary committee and had been passed by a majority in NA.

”We still welcome suggestions or amendments from the opposition,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 15^th, 2016.