NAB, electoral law tweaks sent to Alvi

ISLAMABAD:

The government on Monday sent two crucial bills — the Elections (Amendment) Bill 2022 and the National Accountability (Second Amendment) Bill 2021 – to President Arif Alvi for his ceremonial assent.

After sailing through both the houses of parliament, the amendments are required to be signed off by the president in order to be converted into an act of the parliament.

The Senate had passed the two bills on Friday, a day after they sailed through the National Assembly.

The bills sought to reverse changes made in the election laws by the previous PTI government regarding the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs) and i-voting for overseas Pakistanis and clipping the vast powers of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

However, the bills face potentially strong resistance from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders who announced a day earlier that the amendments would be challenged before the court.

PTI leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi, in a presser on Sunday, lashed out at the ruling coalition, saying that the parties had given themselves ‘NRO-II’ (a term used to describe legal compromises for the sake of political reconciliation) by amending the NAB law.

"Now high and mighty have been protected against corruption. United Nations has set a standard and the amendments are not in accordance with those standards. Even those amendments are not in accordance with the FATF. I urge the Supreme Court to take suo motu notice,” he said.

Meanwhile, anticipating resistance from the presidency, the government is trying a way to get the legislation implemented, sources told The Express Tribune earlier.

"President Arif Alvi has already convened parliament's joint session which the government can extend as per its wish so that it can get approval from it if the presidency creates any hurdle for the legislation," sources revealed.

They said that the president had been obstructing the work of the government and not carrying out his constitutional responsibilities.

The president has the constitutional right to take up to 10 days to consider it and can send it back for revision if he deems misfit.

In such a scenario, they added, the bills would be needed to be tabled in a joint session of parliament. The government think tank, during its deliberation, came to the conclusion that if the joint session is asked from the president in such a case, it is likely he would not call it.

To avoid such a scenario, the insiders revealed, the government had asked the president to call a joint session of parliament, citing discussion on the prevailing economic situation in the country and global security and economic environment.

The president, after mulling over it for eight days, finally convened the session but he cannot adjourn it as it is the domain of the NA speaker who has adjourned the ongoing session till Tuesday and can further extend it if needed.

The government now plans to continue this session as it anticipates resistance from the president to the ratification of the bills but it will have the option of getting them approved by the joint session of parliament.

However, it is pertinent to note that in a surprise move, the president on Monday green-lighted Balighur Rehman's appointment as Punjab governor, ending a weeks-long deadlock with the premier over the matter.

NAB law

The NAB law amendment bill included that the deputy chairman of the anti-graft body would become acting chairman following the top official's retirement.

The process to appoint a new chairman would begin two months prior to the incumbent's retirement and be completed in 40 days. Federal and provincial tax matters as well as regulatory bodies' decisions were removed from NAB's purview.

Judges would be appointed in accountability courts for a three-year period and cases would be decided within a year.

NAB would be bound to ensure the availability of evidence prior to arrest. The amendments also included up to five-year imprisonment for filing a false reference.