Govt presents election, NAB ordinances in NA

The government on Thursday presented the Election Act (Amendment) Ordinance 2024 and the NAB (Amendment) Ordinance 2024 as supplementary agenda items in the lower house of parliament amid a protest by the opposition.

During the National Assembly session, Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Azam Nazeer Tarar presented the ordinances, which respectively propose appointing retired judges to election tribunals and extending the remand period in National Accountability Bureau (NAB) cases from 14 days to 40 days.

Government members supported the ordinances, while opposition members voiced strong opposition by chanting slogans.

PTI’s Malik Amir Dogar criticized the proposed amendments to the NAB law, highlighting that until recently, Minister Tarar had questioned why accused persons should be remanded in NAB custody for 90 days when murder accused are remanded for a maximum of 14 days.

He also pointed out that the PML-N government had previously legislated against appointing retired judges, but it was now proposing their appointment to election tribunals to “protect those responsible for Form 47 issues”.

In response, Minister Tarar defended the ordinances, stating that all parties had signed the Election Act of 2017, and the Election Act (Amendment) Ordinance 2024 was in accordance with that act. He even offered to resign if this was proven otherwise.

PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan challenged Tarar, pointing out that while there might have been consensus on the Election Act, 2017, the last PML-N-led government had amended it on August 5, 2023, to prohibit the appointment of retired judges to election tribunals. He argued that this ordinance also violated the Supreme Court's decision in the Javed Jabbar case.

When Minister Tarar moved for a 120-day extension of the ordinance, Barrister Khan questioned how the extension could be requested when 120 days had not yet passed.

Tarar explained that if 120 days elapsed, the ordinance would expire. Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq supported Tarar's stance, and the ordinances were sent to the relevant standing committee for further consideration.

On May 29, a single-member bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC) ordered the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to notify six more election tribunals for Punjab in light of the nominations sent by the LHC chief justice.

However, a day later, on May 27, Acting President Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani signed the Election (Amendment) Ordinance, 2024, which provided for the appointment of retired judges as election tribunals without consulting the chief justice of the respective high court.

Gilani also gave his seal of approval to the NAB (Amendment) Ordinance, 2024, as per the recommendation of the Ministry of Law.

Under the NAB ordinance, the remand of a suspect under custody was extended from 14 days to 40 days. The punishment for a NAB officer for filing a reference with mala fide intent has been reduced from less than five years to two years.