President Dr Arif Alvi has recently promulgated an ordinance for one man – the Prosecutor General (PG) Accountability of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB); the post seen as the most significant after the NAB chairman as no reference can be filed without the PG’s approval.
The ordinance – the National Accountability (Amendment) Ordinance, 2021 – has not only led to the re-appointment of Justice (retd) Syed Asghar Haider as the PG Accountability for another term of three years but also lifted the bar for another similar extension. Haider’s term has expired on January 28.
“The Prosecutor General Accountability shall hold office for a period of three (03) years and shall be eligible for re-appointment for a similar term or terms,” read the newly promulgated ordinance, which amends the Section 8(a)(iii) of the NAB Ordinance of 1999.
The Section 8(a)(iii) earlier stated: “The Prosecutor General Accountability shall hold office for a 3 [non-extendable] period of three years.” Under NAO of 1999, the tenure of the PG could not be extended and he could not re-appointed.
With the new ordinance, President Alvi has removed both these conditions. Subsequently, the Law and Justice Ministry issued a notification on Monday, stating that the president in consultation with the NAB chairman “has been pleased to re-appoint Justice (retd) Syed Asghar Haider as the Prosecutor General Accountability, NAB, for another term of three years on the same terms and conditions and salary, with effect from the date he assumed the charge of his office.”
The ordinance states that the president promulgated the ordinance on February 9, 2021, while exercising his powers conferred by clause (1) of Article 89 of the Constitution. In addition, it said that the Senate and the National Assembly were not in session and the
“President is satisfied that circumstance exist which render it necessary to take immediate action”. The ordinance is valid up to June 8, 2021.
Due to its lack to strength in the Senate, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government has mostly been relying on ordinances since it came to power.
On occasions, the president promulgated several ordinances in a single day.
For instance, on October 30, 2019, Alvi promulgated eight ordinances, which included the Letter of Administration and Succession Certificates Ordinance, 2019; Enforcement of Women’s Property Rights Ordinance, 2019; Benami Transactions (Prohibition) (Amendment) Ordinance, 2019; Superior Courts (Court Dress and Mode of Address) Order (Repeal) Ordinance, 2019; National Accountability (Amendment) Ordinance, 2019; Legal Aid and Justice Authority Ordinance, 2019; The Whistle-Blowers Act”.
It may come as a surprise but fact of the matter is that successive civil and military governments have passed over 2,000 ordinances since the time of creation of Pakistan.
Though the ordinances cut short the legislative process and save the government considerable amount of work, its cost is heavy – requisite contribution, evaluation and diverse point of view of the parties concerned is nowhere to be found.
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