NA panel clears PTI-specific bill

PPP, JUI-F and MQM-P members do not attend standing committee's session

ISLAMABAD:

A standing committee of the lower house of parliament has given its nod of approval to a controversial bill that seeks to amend the country's election law to counter an order of the apex court that on July 12 paved the way for the PTI to reclaim reserved seats in legislatures.

A meeting of the National Assembly's Standing Committee on Parliamentary Affairs - chaired by PML-N's Rana Aradat Sharif Khan - approved by a majority vote the Elections (Second Amendment) Bill, 2024. The bill received 6 votes in favor and 4 against.

PML-N members voted in favor of the bill, while Minister for Law Azam Nazir Tarar also supported it. Members supported by the PTI opposed the bill. JUI-F member Shahida Akhtar Ali did not participate in the voting. No members from the PPP and the MQM-P attended the committee meeting.

During the committee meeting, a heated exchange occurred between opposition member Ali Muhammad Khan and Tarar. Khan objected to the remarks made by the minister and said, "This is a private member bill, not a government bill. As the law minister, you cannot advocate for it."

In response, Azam Nazir Tarar said, "You should not try to regulate me; you started interrupting. If I am convinced, I will advocate for it. You cannot dictate to me."

PML-N's Bilal Azhar Kayani tabled the Elections (Second Amendment) Bill, 2024, during the National Assembly session on Tuesday. It was later referred to the Committee of Parliamentary Affairs.

Since the July 12 judgment of the apex court makes the PTI eligible for the reserved seats post-general elections, the bill stipulates that the proposed act shall be deemed to have taken effect on and from the commencement of the Elections Act, 2017.

The apex court had directed the independent lawmakers to submit affidavits of their party affiliation within the 15 days of the judgment. It would then lead to the distribution of the reserved seats among the political parties.

If all those lawmakers who have been given a chance to join the PTI, it will change the composition of the National Assembly by making the former ruling party the single largest party and depriving the ruling coalition of two-thirds majority.

Resultantly, the government challenged the decision, and announced that the PTI would be banned and high treason proceedings would be initiated against former prime minister Imran Khan, former president Arif Alvi and former deputy speaker Qasim Suri.

Now, a ruling party's member has presented the bill, apparently, to create hindrance in the smooth implementation of the judgment as the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), despite raising objections to the verdict, had announced through a press release to implement it.

It all started after the ECP had distributed reserved seats among other political parties on the ground that the PTI, which was sitting in the assembly under the banner of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), had not submitted the list of its candidates, among other things, for the reserved seats.

Subsequently, the decision was challenged and, initially, upheld by the Peshawar High Court but, later on, set aside by the top court.