Govt left red-faced over election bill

The coalition government led by the PML-N was on Tuesday left red faced during the joint sitting of parliament when some lawmakers on the treasury benches pinpointed controversial amendments to the Election Act that were never discussed in the relevant parliamentary committee meetings.

When the joint sitting started with Speaker Raja Pervez Ashraf in the chair, Senator Raza Rabbani — who belongs to the PPP, the second largest party in the ruling coalition — protested over the government’s disregard for the parliamentary rules and procedures.

He said the government wanted some pieces of the proposed legislation to sail through parliament without providing their copies to the lawmakers. He said the bills could not be directly tabled in a joint sitting and must be first passed by the two houses of parliament, separately.

“It seems that they want to make the joint sitting a rubber stamp like the National Assembly and the Senate. The legislation that is to be enacted is not provided to us in the form of a draft bill," Senator Rabbani said.

He asked the government not to become a part of a game that seeks to bulldoze the joint session and parliament. “Rather make the house stronger.”

Rabbani said the parliamentary rules require that copies of a bill be provided to the members a day before a sitting so that they may compare the amendments with the previous bill.

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Senator Mushtaq Ahmad of the Jamaat-e-Islami seconded Rabbani and demanded that the parliamentary sitting be deferred for two days so that lawmakers may review the bills and amendments.

Senator Ali Zafar of the PTI also raised objections to the way the government is carrying out legislations.

“I appeal to you not to disrespect parliament anymore. Today parliamentarians are being driven like sheep and these sheep do not know where they are being led to slaughter.” He called on the speaker to give a ruling against voting on a piece of legislation without provision of amendment bills to MPs.

Senator Kamran Murtaza—who belongs to the JUI-F, the third biggest party in the ruling coalition— also criticized the government for undermining parliament.

“What type of agenda is this which we come to know about after we reach the assembly hall? We resisted when lawmakers were forced in the past to approve pieces of legislation and we cannot accept this practice today,” he said.

Defending the government, Khawaja Asif of the PML-N launched an attack on the PTI amid a loud protest by the former ruling party’s lawmaker.

He, however, asked the speaker to defer voting on the Election Act (Amendment) Bill, 2023 till today (Wednesday) so that all lawmakers may compare the proposed amendments with the existing law.

Talking with reference to the Election Act (Amendment) Bill, 2023, Federal Minister for Law Azam Nazeer Tarar said all parliamentary parties were part of the Parliamentary Committee of Electoral Reforms.

“Kamran Murtaza Sahib has not missed even one meeting of the committee but today he says that the house is being bulldozed,” he said.

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The chairman of the committee, Ayaz Sadiq, said input of all committee members had been incorporated in the Election Act (Amendment) Bill, 2023. "We even took input from politicians who are not part of the parliament and incorporated them in the bill,” he added.

However, while the government lawmakers were assuring other members that the Election Act (Amendment) Bill, 2023 was based on the input of members of the committee, the lawmakers were handed copies of the bill which did contain changes not discussed at the committee meetings.

The draft of the Election Act (Amendment) Bill, 2023 showed that the government had amended sub clause 2 of Section 230 of the Election Act, 2017.

The amendments, if approved, will empower a caretaker government in the Centre to take important decisions to bolster the economy including signing bilateral agreements as well as agreements with financial institutions like the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Taking the floor, Kamran Murtaza said the bill did contain some amendments that were not discussed at any of the meetings of the Parliamentary Committee on Electoral Reforms.

“What if the caretaker government takes advantage of these amendments and increases its term from three months to three years? We do not accept this,” he said.

PTI’s Ali Zafar said the government made amendments that were not discussed at the committee. He said he was sure that even the law minister and Ayaz Sadiq were unaware of these amendments inserted in the bill at the eleventh hour.

Raza Rabbani said: “I strongly disagree with the amendments. There are innumerable court decisions with regard to the role of a caretaker government. You are giving a caretaker government as much power as an elected government.”

Senator Taj Haider of the PPP said he did not miss even a single meeting of the committee on electoral reforms. “The committee had never discussed nor approved any amendment to sub clause 2 of Section 230 of the Election Act, 2017,” he said.

Later, senior members of the government and opposition as well as constitutional experts reached the speaker's desk for consultation. After the consultation, the speaker adjourned the sitting till 12:30pm today (Wednesday).

Interestingly, the Election Act (Amendment) Bill, 2023 is based on the Election Act (Amendment) Bill, 2021 which sailed through the National Assembly during the PTI’s rule but could not get the Senate’s seal of approval as the party lacked majority in the upper house.