Expected move: NA allows placing PIA bill on joint session agenda

Speaker insists govt will brief opposition before tabling


Maryam Usman March 19, 2016
Speaker insists govt will brief opposition before tabling. PHOTO: APP



The National Assembly on Friday approved a motion to place the controversial Pakistan International Airlines Corporation (Conversion) Bill, 2016 on the agenda of the upcoming joint session of parliament on Monday.


Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Sheikh Aftab moved the motion in the lower house a day after President Mamnoon Hussain summoned the joint sitting following an agreement between the government and opposition.

The two sides had agreed on Thursday to take up several pending legislation, such as the Gas Theft Control and Recovery Bill, 2014, in the joint session. The ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, however, had assured the opposition that the PIA bill would only be tabled after briefing the latter’s representatives in detail over the contentious legislation.

During Friday’s lower house proceedings, NA Speaker Ayaz Sadiq said the government will brief the opposition of both houses of parliament on the bill at 2pm on Monday. The joint session summoned by President Mamnoon will begin at 5pm that day, he said.

The speaker insisted that only the gas theft control bill will be tabled in the joint session. The PIA bill, he said, will only be tabled in the sitting once consensus among all parliamentary parties had been reached.

Talking to The Express Tribune, federal government sources said Finance Minister Ishaq Dar will brief the opposition on the bill on Monday and assure them that no employee of the airline will be sacked once it is approved.

If the opposition still disagrees with the bill, the government has decided in principle to consult its coalition partners in order to pass the legislation with a majority vote, they said. The sources added that the joint session may extend to more than one day.

Bill against tax dodgers tabled

The government on Friday also tabled the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Bill, 2016 in the NA to confiscate property and cash obtained through ‘black’ means and fulfill a condition of the IMF.

Minister In-Charge Zahid Hamid moved the bill which prohibits individuals from purchasing or owning property under another individual’s name – a practice known locally as ‘benami’.

“The bill is being introduced to deal with the problem of tax evasion and black money, especially in the real estate sector, and to target transactions that are carried out in other people’s names,” Finance Minister Dar said in a statement submitted to the NA.

The bill proposes imposing up to seven years rigorous imprisonment and a fine equivalent to 25% of the fair market value of ‘benami’ property on tax dodgers.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 19th, 2016.

COMMENTS

Replying to X

Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.

For more information, please see our Comments FAQ