Govt fails to bring around opposition

Leaders questions govt if it wants to take the matter to CCI

ISLAMABAD: With the government racing against time to get the necessary constitutional amendment passed from parliament for delimitation of constituencies, another meeting of parliamentary party leaders on Wednesday failed to reach a consensus on the issue.

The fourth consecutive meeting on the issue turned out to be a replica of the earlier meetings.

The Pakistan Peoples Party, the main opposition party, did not budge an inch from its stance, urging the government to take the issue back to the Council of Common Interests (CCI).



Even though none of the parties want elections to be delayed, a deadlock on the issue risks a timely vote in the country as the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) wants the lawmakers to pass by November 10 the constitutional amendment required to kick off the delimitation process.

“Today, we could not reach a consensus again because the PPPP wants to discuss the issue in the CCI while some parties are of the view that parliament is the august forum, not less than the council, and issues must be resolved there,” NA Speaker Ayaz Sadiq told the media after the meeting.

Earlier, Awami Muslim League President Shaikh Rashid came out fuming and condemning the government.



“I have a verbal spat with Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party chief Mahmood Khan Achakzai who said there is a threat to the country, and people are talking about a technocrat government,” he said while waving his hands in disgust.

Rashid said the government had failed and lost the confidence of people as it would never complete the required numbers to get the amendment passed. “They need 228 lawmakers in National Assembly, and lack 63,” he said of the government.

The speaker, however, said all the parties were unanimous on the point that the next elections could not be held on the census of 1998 due to legal constraints.



“Now we will request the government to tell us what they want – call a CCI meeting or take up any other options – because we want a consensus [on the issue],” he said, adding that the proposed amendment could be passed by the National Assembly, but garnering a two-thirds majority without the PPP would be difficult.

Law Minister Zahid Hamid also stressed the importance of having the constitutional amendment passed. He said the government could approve the provisional census results using a simple majority vote, but a two-thirds vote is required for a constitutional amendment to pave the way for delimitation of the constituencies.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Vice Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi also expressed apprehensions, saying that in view of the PPP reservations, there were meagre chances of the constitutional amendment to get through.



ECP Director General Arshad Khan has said that the amendment should be done by November 10. However, he believes that ECP could still be on time if the government was able to do it within the next 10 days i.e. by Nov 18.

According to Khan, ECP requires four months to complete the process of delimitation and the elections can be held as scheduled if the provisional census report is provided on time. He, however, warned that would be difficult to meet the election deadline once the assemblies completed their constitutional term.