Resolution passed in National Assembly to extend PPO for 120 days

JUI-F and opposition parties walk out of the assembly in protest.

ISLAMABAD: A resolution was passed in the National Assembly to extend the Pakistan Protection Ordinance (PPO) for 120 days, Express News reported on Wednesday.

Minister for Science and Technology Zahid Hamid presented the resolution in the lower house, stating that human rights were not being violated by the new ordinance.

He also said that the government will not get the ordinance approved through any illegal way.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had advised that the legislation be agreed upon unanimously and therefore there have been amendments in the ordinance, which has now been sent to the Standing Committee.

Many political parties have said that the new ordinance is a violation of the universal declaration of human rights and therefore, violates the Constitution of Pakistan. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has termed it as a ‘black law.’

Walkout

Opposition Leader Khursheed Shah announced a walkout after the resolution was presented. MNAs from Jamiat-e-Ulema-Islami Fazl (JUI-F) as well as members of the political parties in the opposition walked out of the assembly.

Various political parties apart from Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N) have serious reservations about the PPO, as a result of which it has not been passed in the Senate as yet.

Law and order debate

Mehmood Khan Achakzai from the Pakhtunkhwa Mili Awami Party (PkMAP) cautioned the government about the traumatic outcome of the military operation in North Waziristan Agency.

“Government should never operate against Taliban until it finalises its arrangements with the approaching regime in Afghanistan,” he said.