Interim set-up empowered to take care of economy

ISLAMABAD:

In a stunning display of legislative acrobatics, the joint sitting of parliament redrew the lines of political authority on Wednesday as it bestowed upon the upcoming caretaker set-up with an unprecedented mandate to navigate major economic and political landscapes.

A day after being left red-faced over the election bill, the government managed to convince its allies to give assent for increasing the powers of the caretaker set-up by amending Section 230 of the Elections Act of 2017, among other things.

“Provided that sub-sections (1) and (2) shall not apply where the caretaker government has to take actions or decisions regarding existing bilateral or multilateral agreements or the projects already initiated under the Public Private Partnership Authority Act, 2017 (VIII of 2017), the Inter-Governmental Commercial Transactions Act, 2022 (XXX of 2022) and the Privatisation Commission Ordinance, 2000 (LII of 2000)," the substituted clause of Section 230 read.

However, instead of explicitly defining the term “existing”, parliament has opened the gateway for the caretaker set-up to wield significant economic authority during its fleeting three-month tenure, which was earlier supposed to bridge the gap before an elected government assumes power after the general elections.

On Tuesday, the amendment in Section 230 had stated that the sub-sections shall not apply whenever circumstances exist which render it expedient for the caretaker government to take such actions or decisions necessary for the purpose of protection of economic interests of Pakistan dealing with bilateral and multilateral agreements with international institutions and foreign governments.

Despite opposition from the PTI, the JI lawmakers and PPP’s Raza Rabbani, the joint session approved over four dozen amendments to the Elections Act of 2017. Surprisingly, the ruling coalition has made amendments after embracing a PTI-era bill – pertaining to electoral reforms – that they had vehemently opposed during their time in the Senate as the opposition.

Ironically, when the government had come to power after ousting Imran Khan as the prime minister through a vote of no-confidence, its main agenda was to go for electoral reforms and call elections.

However, the plan was changed and amendments in the election law are being passed at a time when the government is just a couple of weeks away from completing the five-year term.

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Before the passage of the bill by the joint session on Wednesday, the Parliamentary Committee on Electoral Reforms met at parliament to address the concerns of the allies on Section 230 as they had objected that the controversial amendment was never discussed in the in-camera committee meetings.

After cajoling the allies but failing to gain support of the PTI, the government managed to pass the bill endowing the caretaker set-up with unprecedented powers.

During the session, the government ministers, who were a part of the committee, explained that the allies’ reservations have been addressed, ensuring that the caretaker set-up would not be able to enter into any new agreements or contracts but will only be able to exercise powers related to the already ongoing programmes and projects.

Law Minister Azam Nazir Tarar clarified that no new powers are being given to the caretaker government, saying the amendments in Section 230 are aimed to ensure that the decisions already taken by the federal cabinet do not face any hiatus.

‘Illegal and unconstitutional’

Meanwhile, PTI Senator Barrister Ali Zafar opposed the amendment, terming it “illegal and unconstitutional”. “If parliament doesn’t reject it today, the Supreme Court will strike it down in the next few days,” he said.

PPP’s Taj Haider told The Express Tribune that the electoral reforms committee gathered to discuss the one-point agenda of amendment in Section 230 and decided that the amendment should be reworded so that the caretaker set-up’s powers are limited as opposed to giving it a mandate to start new initiatives, projects or agreements.

Among other things, the bill states that the political parties shall encourage women, persons with disabilities and transgender persons to become its members.

Failure to conduct intra-party elections would lead to a show-cause notice and then to a fine of Rs200,000.

An amendment in Section 20 (3) (principles of delimitation) states that it shall not be necessary to strictly adhere to the existing district boundaries while carrying out delimitation.

Amendment in Section 83 states that a new proviso shall be inserted in Section 83(4): “provided that officials of the law enforcement agencies shall be posted for security duties outside the polling station but in an emergency, may be called inside by the Presiding Officer to restore order and peaceful polling.”

Through an amendment in Section 148 (5) (procedure before Election Tribunal for trial of petitions), parliament has ruled that if the parties do not consent to specific dates under sub-section 4, the Election Tribunal shall proceed with the trial of the election petition on a day-to-day basis and no adjournment shall be granted to any party for more than seven days and that too on payment of Rs180,000 and the election petition shall be decided within 180 days of its filing.

It adds that any further adjournment would cost more.

Further, an amendment in Section 155 states that an appeal shall be decided within 180 days, adding that an injunctive order if passed shall stand vacated automatically if the appeal is not decided by the high court or the Supreme Court within 180 days.

Among other things, the statement of object and reasons has also been amended.

The PTI-era bill had stated that transparent Senate elections without manipulations that have happened in the past and voting rights to the overseas Pakistanis are the long-standing demands of almost all the political parties, including the PTI.

The newly passed bill doesn’t carry these sentences.

The PTI bill had stated that the federal cabinet, in its meeting held on January 28, 2020, constituted a cabinet committee to formulate recommendations regarding electoral reforms in order to ensure transparent, free, and fair elections in the country; the sentence is identical sans dates in both documents.

Based on the recommendations of the committee, both the bills state, the cabinet approved an electoral reforms package consisting of the Constitution (Twenty-Sixth Amendment) Bill, 2020, and the Elections (Amendment) Bill, 2020.

“These bills broadly cover the Senate elections, women and minorities reserved seats, delimitation of constituencies on the basis of enrolled voters instead of population, voting rights to overseas Pakistanis and conditional participation of dual nationals in elections,” the PTI bill, passed by the National Assembly but not the Senate, stated.

The newly passed bill states that these bills broadly covered the Senate elections, women, transgender persons and minorities reserved seats, delimitations, and constituencies on the basis of enrolled voters instead of population.

Additionally, the newly passed bill states that a parliamentary committee on electoral reforms was constituted in pursuance of a motion adopted in the National Assembly on April 16, 2022.

The committee in its meetings held on July 11, 12, 13, 17 and 18, 2023, considered the amendments proposed by the Standing Committee on Parliamentary Affairs of NA, Senate, other political parties and the Election Commission of Pakistan in the above said meetings in detail and unanimously approved the amendments to ensure transparent, free, and fair elections in the country.