PECA bill bulldozed through NA amid walkouts
The National Assembly on Thursday passed a bill seeking amendments to the country's cybercrime laws amid protests and walkouts by the opposition and the journalist community.
The Prevention of Electronic Crimes (Amendment) Bill,2025 was approved within minutes after it was tabled by Federal Minister for Industries & Production Division Rana Tanveer Hussain in the house.
PTI lawmakers staged a protest and later walked out of the lower house after the speaker did not allow Leader of Opposition Omar Ayub to speak.
The 12th session of the 16th meeting of the National Assembly resumed on Thursday with Speaker Ayaz Sadiq in the chair. During a point of order, Omar Ayub requested a mic to express his views. However, the speaker declined his request.
Responding to this move, the opposition members started banging on their desks. They also shouted slogans against the government and tore and threw in the air copies of the agenda.
Amid this clamor, the speaker, government ministers and parliamentary secretaries tried to continue the proceedings with the help of headphones. The PTI parliamentarian later staged a walk-out.
MNA Syed Agha Rafiullah of the PPP condemned the PTI's protest. "The public should see whether the PTI representatives are speaking about their rights today or making noises of animals in the house. They neither talk about inflation here nor about electricity," he said.
Lawmakers from the opposition Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam Fazl also opposed the bill.
Digital Nation Pakistan Bill
The Assembly passed a bill to provide for the transformation of Pakistan into a digital nation, enabling a digital society, digital economy, and digital governance [The Digital Nation Pakistan Bill, 2024].
Minister of State Shaza Fatima Khawaja tabled the Information Technology and Telecommunication bill. It seeks to harness the power of digital technologies to create a modern, efficient, and sustainable digital ecosystem across the country.
The legislation aims to accelerate sustainable economic development, modernize governance frameworks, enhance citizen welfare, and improve the delivery of public services. Key objectives include creating a progressive digital society, fostering a thriving digital economy, and establishing a secure and collaborative digital governance ecosystem supported by robust public infrastructure. The bill also addresses long-standing issues in the IT and telecommunication sector, such as bureaucratic red tape and departmental challenges, which have hindered progress. It promises to eliminate these obstacles, enabling faster decision-making and more effective implementation of IT initiatives. Ms. Shaza Fatima clarified that the bill does not centralize data collection but focuses on streamlining digital identity and enhancing cybersecurity measures. She added that the rules established under the bill would help reduce corruption and improve the efficiency of public service delivery by minimizing paperwork and digitizing processes. The legislation is considered a significant step toward connecting Pakistan with the global digital landscape and fostering clear, sustainable progress in the field of information technology.