Senate ‘bars’ disqualified person from heading party

Bill presented by PTI's Shibli Faraz passed with a majority vote

ISLAMABAD: Senate moved on Monday to scrap the controversial provision that allowed Nawaz Sharif to get re-elected as the head of his own faction of Pakistan Muslim league barely a month after it was passed.

The Senate ruled that no person, not qualified to become a member of parliament, can hold any party office.

The new amendment is unlikely to have any impact whatsoever unless adopted by the National Assembly, where the ruling party holds a comfortable majority: If put to vote in the lower house of parliament, PML-N can simply opt to reject it.

If, the lower house rejects it, the matter would go to joint sitting of parliament. PML-N and its allied parties outnumber the combined strength of the opposition even if a joint session is summoned.



There are, however, some indications that cracks are beginning to appear in the apparent unity of the treasury benches. One cabinet member and some of his party colleagues have been openly criticising Nawaz for being elected as the president of the party after his disqualification by the Supreme Court.

Moved by PTI’s parliamentary leader Shibli Faraz, the new bill was supported by PPP, PML-Q, Jamat-e-Islami and MQM.

It was approved in the Senate with 46 votes in favour. As many as 21 members voted against the new amendment.

The Elections Bill 2017 was passed by the Senate on September 22. It has now become an Act.

Among the laws passed in the Elections Bill 2017, was Clause 203, which amended Section 5 of the Political Parties Order of 2002.

It allows any citizen, who is not a government servant, to form a political party or hold any office of a political party, without any restriction.

This particular legal provision has a long history. It originated from the regime of Ayub Khan. At times it was an active law but was struck down at other times.

Reintroduced during the Musharraf regime, Section 5(1) of Political Parties Order of 2002 allowed a person “not being in the service of Pakistan to form or be a member of a political party or be otherwise associated with a political party or take part in political activities or be elected as an office-bearer of a political party”.

This clause had a proviso which read: “Provided that a person shall not be appointed or serve as an office-bearer of a political party if he is not qualified to be, or is disqualified from being, elected or chosen as a member of the Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) under Article 63 of the Constitution … or under any other law for the time being in force”.

The government tactfully omitted this proviso when Elections Bill, 2017 was introduced. When the bill was passed in the National Assembly it went unnoticed. However, when it was being voted in the Senate on September 22, leader of the Opposition in the House Aitzaz Ahsen pointed out and moved an amendment in the bill.



To the embarrassment of the opposition, Aitzaz’s amendment was defeated and the clause remained part of the bill. To the opposition’s surprise, 37 votes were cast in favour of Aitzaz’s amendment while 38 were cast against it.

Through the new amendment now adopted by the Senate, the proviso now added to the Section 203 (1) reads “provided that the person shall not be appointed or serve as an office-bearer of a political party if he is not qualified to be, or is disqualified from being, elected or chosen as a member of parliament under any law for time being in force”.

Senator Atiq Ahmad Sheikh of MQM, who voted in government favour the last time, also supported the opposition’s amendment. The lone traditional supporter of the government, who sits on the opposition benches – Jehanzaib Jamaldani of BNP-M, was not present in the House.

Opposing the amendment, Law Minister Zahid Hamid asserted that the amendment had been proposed and included in the Elections Bill, 2017 even years before Panama Leaks issue had not come to limelight.