NA approves CPEC authority bill

The National Assembly on Monday passed three bills amid noisy protests from opposition lawmakers but an adjournment motion for a debate on electricity tariff hike was postponed again despite being on the day’s agenda.

The session began with Speaker Asad Qaiser in the chair. During the Question Hour, the house was informed that the total debt of Pakistan was Rs21,400 billion in 2016-17 which increased to Rs36,900 billion by September 2020.

After the Question Hour, the legislative process began, but the opposition members rose from their seats and started raising slogans. Amid the noisy, Parliamentary Affairs Adviser Dr Babar Awan introduced the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor Authority Bill 2020 and the Public Private Partnership Authority Bill 2020, while Parliamentary Secretary for Finance Zain Qureshi tabled the Pakistan One-Window Bill 2020.

The bills were passed by the house. Two ordinances were also introduced in the house despite the continuing opposition protest. Later the speaker allowed initiation of the debate on the presidential address to the parliament.

Treasury bench member Alia Hamza said that a non-political honourable woman was criticised and ridiculed by an occupation mafia belonging to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). she added that the privilege of the house was violated by the occupation mafia.

While she was speaking, the speaker adjourned the sitting till Tuesday. Due to the opposition’s protest, debate on the Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) adjournment motion on electricity tariff hike could not take place.