Senate erupts in protest over PECA bill

Opp, journalists unite against legislation; bill referred to committee

ISLAMABAD:

The Senate on Friday witnessed a fierce showdown over the controversial Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) Amendment Bill, as the government attempted to push it forward with the same haste that saw it steamrolled through the lower house a day earlier.

PTI members, already seething over the legislation, wasted no time voicing their outrage, raising slogans and banging their desks. Similarly, journalists staged a walkout from the press gallery in protest.

The session, chaired by Deputy Chairman of Senate Syedaal Khan Nasar, began with the tabling of the PECA Amendment Bill and the Digital Nation Pakistan Bill.

In a move mirroring the lower house, which suspended the rules to expedite consideration and passage of the bill, the upper house also suspended the Question Hour proceedings for the day to fast-track approval of the bills.

However, opposition members successfully put a halt to the legislation, leading the chairman to refer the bills to the relevant committee for further review.

PPP Senator Sherry Rehman moved the motion to adjourn the Question Hour.

Shortly after, the PECA Amendment Bill was presented by Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar.

As the bill was introduced, journalists walked out in protest, while PTI members erupted in chaos, raising slogans and banging their desks. They stood up and loudly declared, "The government of sticks and bullets will not prevail."

In response to the uproar, the deputy chairman referred the PECA Amendment Bill to the relevant Senate committee for further deliberation. The session was then adjourned until Monday at 4 pm.

The bill was passed in the National Assembly a day ago, following which journalists staged a walkout from the press gallery in protest of the bill's passage.

Lawmakers from the opposition Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam Fazl also opposed the bill.

Meanwhile, in the wake of the journalists' walkout, PTI senators expressed solidarity by visiting the press gallery.

Opposition Leader Shibli Faraz, along with Senators Aon Abbas, Humayun Khan Mehmood, Zeeshan Khanzada, Saifullah Niazi, Fauzia Arshad and Falak Naz Chitrali, stood with the journalists.

'Black law'

Speaking to the media in the press gallery, Leader of the Opposition Shibli Faraz rejected the PECA Amendment Bill.

"The government should be ashamed for passing such laws. This bill is designed to suppress journalists and the PTI," he said, adding that journalists may have different viewpoints, but PTI stands in solidarity with them.

"This law is aimed at the PTI, but the journalists have ended up being its victims," he lamented while calling it a "black law against freedom of expression."

He said that the amendments were meant to push media representatives into the dark, adding that efforts were being made to suppress people's voices.

"And then they (the government) complain about people not investing in Pakistan," he remarked. "How can people invest in Pakistan when such laws are being passed?"

He further said that senators and MNAs were silent on the passage of the amendment bills.

"They are enjoying their positions based on a fake mandate, that's why they don't care about the people."

Meanwhile, Omar Ayub said that "online businesses will be destroyed under this act".