Senate Committee discusses Amendment Bill 2024

Constitution designated 10 reserved seats for non-Muslims in National Assembly, with entire country as constituency

ISLAMABAD:

The Senate’s Standing Committee on Law and Justice on Wednesday discussed the Constitution Amendment Bill 2024 (Amendment of Article 51).

The bill was introduced by senators Kauda Babar, Manzoor Ahmed Kakar, Naseebullah Bazai, Sana Jamali, and Danesh Kumar in the upper house on January 1.

Senator Danesh Kumar told the committee, which met with Senator Ali Zafar in the chair, that the Constitution designated 10 reserved seats for non-Muslims in the National Assembly, with the entire country as the constituency.

“This unrestricted geographical allocation allows political parties to nominate candidates freely, resulting in disproportionate representation favouring populous provinces,” he added.

The proposed amendment, he said, “seeks to rectify this by ensuring a minimum of one seat is allocated to each province, addressing the existing disparity”.

Following thorough discussions, the committee members unanimously supported the amendment, deeming it fair and equitable.

In response to legal concerns raised by Senator Kamran Murtaza on the matter, the chairman directed the Law Ministry and Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs to find out a way forward and also provide details of previous efforts to amend Article 51 of the Constitution.

Earlier, the members congratulated Senator Sania Nishtar for her appointment as the CEO of GAVI and Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayyed on his election as Vice President of IPU’s Human Rights Body.

The meeting was attended by senators Kamran Murtaza, Farooq Hamid Naek, Danesh Kumar and Walid Iqbal, and the Secretary of the Ministry of Law.