Opposition submits requisition to summon NA session

The 106 MNAs seek a debate on the clause 203 of the Election Act 2017

ISLAMABAD: All the opposition parties in the National Assembly on Thursday submitted a joint requisition for summoning the session of the lower house to debate on the clause 203 of the Election Act 2017.

The section 203 of the Election Act 2017 has already been passed by the Senate barring a disqualified person to head a political party.

The requisition which has been submitted in the NA secretariat has the signatures of 106 MNAs of different opposition parties. These opposition parties include Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarian (PPPP), Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI), Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Pakistan, Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), Pakistan Muslim League -Quaid, Awami National Party (ANP), Qaumi Wattan Party - Sherpao and Awami Muslim League.



The requisition was submitted by PPPP’s parliamentary leader in the National Assembly Syed Naveed Qamar.

The last session of the assembly was abruptly prorogued on Monday and since then the lawmakers of the opposition have been alleging the government did it to avoid embarrassment on the bill which has been passed by the Senate. A few of them have been of the viewpoint that the government has cracks amongst it rank and file at the moment and it can’t take risk on the bill.

The bill in this connection was supposed to be tabled on Tuesday (November 7) on the private members day. However, as the session was prorogued so this bill could not be tabled.



The government during the 48th session of the National Assembly had tabled the bill pertaining to the delimitation of constituencies in backdrop of the new census. It was a constitutional amendment which required a two-thirds majority to give legal cover to provisional results of the census for delimitation. However, the government failed miserably to allow the amendment to sail through the lower house.

On the other hand the Senate during last month had scrapped the controversial provision that allowed Nawaz Sharif to get re-elected as head of his own faction of Pakistan Muslim League barely a month after it was passed.

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

Moved by PTI’s parliamentary leader Shibli Faraz, the new bill was supported by PPP, PML-Q, JI 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.