PM wins opposition's support for delimitation bill in Senate
Four-member committee formed on FATA reforms
Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi. PHOTO: FILE
ISLAMABAD:
Uncertainty around the fate of the upcoming general elections was somewhat cleared on Friday after the government and the opposition finally agreed on the much-awaited bill in the Senate on the delimitation of constituencies.
The consensus was reached during Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi’s meeting with leaders of the parliamentary parties in the upper house of Parliament over breakfast on Friday.
It was agreed that the bill on constituencies’ delimitation will be moved in the Senate on Tuesday. The 24th Constitutional Amendment Bill which reallocates National Assembly seats among provinces and allows revamping of constituencies in accordance with the provisional results of the census.
However, the proposed legislation on reforms in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) – another thorny issue – has to wait. It was agreed that a four-member committee would be formed on the Fata reforms.
Underhand deal?: Delimitation bill to sail through Senate after PPP’s 'conditional nod'
The committee, comprising Mushahidullah Khan and Hasil Bizenjo from the government side and Taj Haider and Mushahid Hussain from the opposition, would also deal with modalities regarding constituencies’ delimitation to allay reservations of the provinces over the audit of census blocks.
Strangely, all the committee members have been taken from the Senate despite the fact that legislation on Fata reforms has yet to reach the Senate, as deadlock hit the National Assembly, where opposition is staging walkout after the government pulled it off the agenda.
At the breakfast meeting, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) were conspicuous by their absence. Political sources said the PTI did not attend the meeting though it was held to mainly allay reservations of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the PTI on the delimitation issue.
Govt lacks support: Delimitations bill yet to see Senate floor
The sources said Abbasi showed his concern at the absence of the PTI. However, he assured the meeting, especially Leader of Opposition in Senate Aitzaz Ahsan, that the PPP’s reservations on the issue would be looked into.
A government source said the prime minister would soon hold a separate meeting with leaders of the parliamentary parties in the National Assembly to take them into confidence, specifically on the issue of Fata reforms.
After the meeting, Ahsan told reporters the Prime Minister had accepted the PPP’s proposal to randomly select 5% population samples for the audit of census blocks. “The PM has assured to do his best in his official and personal capacity to supervise this exercise which would be done in 30 days,” he said.
Delimitation bill: Govt in intense lobbying for two-thirds majority in Senate
Reports had been doing the rounds that the PPP wanted to strike an underhand deal with the ruling PML-N to secure some seats in the Senate polls in March next year and also some seats from southern Punjab in the coming general elections.
The reports also suggested that PPP Co-Chairman Asif Zardari wanted concrete assurances from the government to help his sister Faryal Talpur get elected as next Senate chairperson. In return, the PPP would support the government on the constituencies’ delimitation bill and other political issues.
Sindh and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa governments have opposed the delimitation bill, taking the stance that a significant number of people in the two provinces were ignored during the census exercise.
Opposition shares speaker’s pessimism, PM begs to differ
They have demanded of the prime minister to convene a meeting of the Council of Common Interests (CCI) to discuss the issue. Reportedly, the Sindh government also believes that the commitment made by Prime Minister Abbasi in a CCI meeting last month regarding payment of outstanding dues to the provinces was not honoured.
During that meeting, Abbasi had reportedly assured Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah and K-P Chief Minister KP Pervaiz Khattak that their reservations would be addressed. Afterwards, the bill on constituencies’ delimitation was passed by the National Assembly – and now it awaits Senate’s nod.
Speaking to The Express Tribune, Leader of the House in Senate and Chairman PML-N Raja Zafarul Haq denied that the issue of Fata reforms landed in the cold storage after the formation of the four-member committee.
“The committee comprises credible members, and the PM himself has taken responsibility to ensure implementation of the committee’s recommendations,” he said.
Asked why all the panel members were taken from the Senate, he said: “The committee members belong to political parties that also have representation in the National Assembly. The PM is the leader of the house in NA and he would do his best to take the lower house into confidence on the matter.”
Uncertainty around the fate of the upcoming general elections was somewhat cleared on Friday after the government and the opposition finally agreed on the much-awaited bill in the Senate on the delimitation of constituencies.
The consensus was reached during Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi’s meeting with leaders of the parliamentary parties in the upper house of Parliament over breakfast on Friday.
It was agreed that the bill on constituencies’ delimitation will be moved in the Senate on Tuesday. The 24th Constitutional Amendment Bill which reallocates National Assembly seats among provinces and allows revamping of constituencies in accordance with the provisional results of the census.
However, the proposed legislation on reforms in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) – another thorny issue – has to wait. It was agreed that a four-member committee would be formed on the Fata reforms.
Underhand deal?: Delimitation bill to sail through Senate after PPP’s 'conditional nod'
The committee, comprising Mushahidullah Khan and Hasil Bizenjo from the government side and Taj Haider and Mushahid Hussain from the opposition, would also deal with modalities regarding constituencies’ delimitation to allay reservations of the provinces over the audit of census blocks.
Strangely, all the committee members have been taken from the Senate despite the fact that legislation on Fata reforms has yet to reach the Senate, as deadlock hit the National Assembly, where opposition is staging walkout after the government pulled it off the agenda.
At the breakfast meeting, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) were conspicuous by their absence. Political sources said the PTI did not attend the meeting though it was held to mainly allay reservations of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the PTI on the delimitation issue.
Govt lacks support: Delimitations bill yet to see Senate floor
The sources said Abbasi showed his concern at the absence of the PTI. However, he assured the meeting, especially Leader of Opposition in Senate Aitzaz Ahsan, that the PPP’s reservations on the issue would be looked into.
A government source said the prime minister would soon hold a separate meeting with leaders of the parliamentary parties in the National Assembly to take them into confidence, specifically on the issue of Fata reforms.
After the meeting, Ahsan told reporters the Prime Minister had accepted the PPP’s proposal to randomly select 5% population samples for the audit of census blocks. “The PM has assured to do his best in his official and personal capacity to supervise this exercise which would be done in 30 days,” he said.
Delimitation bill: Govt in intense lobbying for two-thirds majority in Senate
Reports had been doing the rounds that the PPP wanted to strike an underhand deal with the ruling PML-N to secure some seats in the Senate polls in March next year and also some seats from southern Punjab in the coming general elections.
The reports also suggested that PPP Co-Chairman Asif Zardari wanted concrete assurances from the government to help his sister Faryal Talpur get elected as next Senate chairperson. In return, the PPP would support the government on the constituencies’ delimitation bill and other political issues.
Sindh and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa governments have opposed the delimitation bill, taking the stance that a significant number of people in the two provinces were ignored during the census exercise.
Opposition shares speaker’s pessimism, PM begs to differ
They have demanded of the prime minister to convene a meeting of the Council of Common Interests (CCI) to discuss the issue. Reportedly, the Sindh government also believes that the commitment made by Prime Minister Abbasi in a CCI meeting last month regarding payment of outstanding dues to the provinces was not honoured.
During that meeting, Abbasi had reportedly assured Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah and K-P Chief Minister KP Pervaiz Khattak that their reservations would be addressed. Afterwards, the bill on constituencies’ delimitation was passed by the National Assembly – and now it awaits Senate’s nod.
Speaking to The Express Tribune, Leader of the House in Senate and Chairman PML-N Raja Zafarul Haq denied that the issue of Fata reforms landed in the cold storage after the formation of the four-member committee.
“The committee comprises credible members, and the PM himself has taken responsibility to ensure implementation of the committee’s recommendations,” he said.
Asked why all the panel members were taken from the Senate, he said: “The committee members belong to political parties that also have representation in the National Assembly. The PM is the leader of the house in NA and he would do his best to take the lower house into confidence on the matter.”