Opposition-govt rift persists over police law

Opposition boycotts select committee meeting, says PPP wants to snatch powers from IGP

KARACHI: Adviser to Sindh Chief Minister for Information, Law, and Anti-corruption Barrister Murtaza Wahab has said that the select committee will finalise a draft for the revival of Police Order 2002 by today, which will be presented in the next sitting of the Sindh Assembly.

He said this while addressing a joint press conference with the select committee convener Ismail Rahu and other Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) members on Tuesday.

Earlier, Wahab had said that the bill drafted to revive Police Order 2002 focused on autonomy of police, setting up a safety commission and establishing committees on district and provincial levels. However, the opposition had claimed that the government intended to reduce the authority of the Sindh inspector-general of police (IGP).



Citing their reservations, the opposition members boycotted the consultative meeting of the select committee on the fifth day and said that the ruling PPP was unwilling to listen to the opposition, adding that it wanted to snatch away the powers from IGP.

However, refuting these allegations and referring to police laws implemented in Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Wahab said, "All transfers and postings are made after consultation between chief ministers and IGPs of the respective provinces."

In response to a question about opposition's recommendations, Wahab said, "We have made sure to include opposition members' recommendations in the law, but they are bent upon political point scoring."

"Those civil society members who had filed petition have also been invited by the committee," said Wahab.

On the other hand, opposition members alleged that it was futile to sit in the meeting where no one listens to their recommendations. "The police order 2002 which is being revived has already been tampered with," Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf parliamentary leader Haleem Adil Shaikh said, adding that no one shares minutes of the meeting with them.

Speaking with particular reference to the Police Order 2002, he said, "We want to make the law as directed by court in AD Khawaja case, but they are changing it." 

Published in The Express Tribune, May 15^th, 2019.