PPP offers govt support on FATF, NAP legislation

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on the floor of the National Assembly on Monday offered support to the government in its attempt to legislate in line with the requirements of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the National Action Plan (NAP).

The PPP chairman said that the opposition was reengaging with the government, especially on the legislation for FATF and NAP, adding that the PPP would want to help the government fulfil its requirements in this regard.

However, he said, “It would be better if the government and the opposition bring such bills with consensus. Such an opportunity is available and it should be availed.”

Bilawal said that the process should be followed right from the start till the end while ensuring that the opposition’s stance is taken in all such bills.

He said that a high-powered committee was already working on these things with a set timeframe and it would a better indication from the government side if the bills and ordinances were introduced after the committee finalises them.

Adviser to the Prime Minister on Parliamentary Affairs Dr Babar Awan, however, drew NA Speaker Asad Qaiser’s attention towards several agenda items pending introduction for the last four weeks while several others pending for over a-year-and-a-half.

The PM’s adviser said that legislation would continue to be delayed if preference was given to reaching a consensus, adding that the ordinances and the bills should be allowed to be tabled in the house and the rest can follow.

By introducing the bills the way they are, Bilawal said, the government was sending a message that it was not serious about the “consensus process” adopted by the opposition and the treasury benches for moving forward.

Qaiser, however, said that only the legal procedure was being adopted. He, subsequently, asked Awan to start introducing the ordinances and bills on the agenda.

Meanwhile, PPP leader Naveed Qamar said that several bills on the order of the day were related to the FATF, which revealed that the government and the opposition have reached an “understanding” that all bills would be passed with consensus. That is why, he said, several committees were formed.

Qamar said that even the introduction stage would not be considered corrected unless the parties reached a consensus, urging to stop the process of presenting agenda items. “[Consensus] is expected in the coming days only,” he said. “The passage would then be smoother in this house and in Senate.”

The NA speaker replied, “It is a requirement under the rules and we just have to lay and send the same to the standing committees. Discussion will take place later on and only procedure is being followed.”

Subsequently, the National Assembly witnessed Awan laying five ordinances, eight bills and a total of four motions. Separately, other motions and reports of the standing committees were also presented in the assembly.

The house later started debate on the privatisation policy of the government – a motion moved by the Minister for Privatisation Muhammad Mian Soomro on July 20, 2020.

Awan laid several ordinances, including the Companies (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020, the Corporate Restructuring Companies (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020 and the Public Private Partnership Authority (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020, in the house.

Among the bills, Awan introduced the Control of Narcotic Substances (Amendment) Bill, 2020, the Limited Liability Partnership (Amendment) Bill, 2020, the Anti-Money Laundering (Second Amendment) Bill, 2020, the Anti-terrorism (Amendment) Bill, 2020, the Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Bill, 2020, the Islamabad Capital Territory Waqf Properties Bill, 2020 and the Islamabad Capital Territory Trust Bill, 2020.

Meanwhile, speaking on the point of order, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)’s Ahsan Iqbal said that Minister for Communications Murad Saeed has constantly been levelling false allegations against him.

On the other hand, Saeed said that the PML-N was taking undue credit for including several projects in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor as it was PTI that recommended them.

Both the lawmakers delivered heated speeches and claimed that several projects became a part of CPEC because of the efforts of their governments.