Clean Senate polls: APC comes to naught
Parliamentary parties refuse to endorse 22nd constitutional amendment
PM Nawaz Sharif chairs a meeting of the leaders of parliamentary parties. PHOTO: APP
ISLAMABAD:
All political parties agree that political horse-trading is a bane – and that it must end. Nonetheless they refused to endorse, for their own reasons, a constitutional amendment proposed by the ruling PML-N on Friday to put an end to wheeling and dealing in the Senate elections to be held early next month.
The 22nd constitutional amendment bill was put before the leaders of all parliamentary parties by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif at an all parties’ conference (APC) which was convened to discuss how to make the elections to the upper house of parliament fair and transparent.
The response to the proposed law was, however, tepid. The parliamentary leaders cited their own reasons for their non-agreement. Instead they proposed a seats-adjustment mechanism to make sure all parties get shares in proportion to their numerical strength in provincial legislatures.
All major political parties – including PPP and JUI-F of Maulana Fazlur Rehman – openly opposed the government move to introduce a 22nd amendment to the Constitution to do away with the menace of political horse trading, sources told The Express Tribune.
The PPP, JUI-F and smaller parties from Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa said that instead of interdicting horse-trading through a constitutional amendment, the political parties should control their lawmakers in federal and provincial legislatures.
They suggested the 22nd constitutional amendment bill be sent to a multiparty parliamentary committee which has been tasked to reform the country’s decades-old electoral system rigged with flaws. They said a constitutional amendment should be made for reforms, and not for any specific agenda.
They heaped criticism on the government for its ‘delayed move’, saying that the constitutional amendment should have been introduced six months before the Senate elections. At the same time, they blamed Imran Khan’s PTI for the delay in electoral reforms committee’s recommendations as the PTI has not been attending National Assembly sessions.
However, these parties agreed to evolve a consensus before March 5 to make sure all parties get their due shares in the Senate through seats-adjustment.
Earlier, the prime minister presented the 22nd constitutional amendment bill to the parliamentary leaders and asked them that if they endorsed the bill, the National Assembly would be convened on Monday to vote on it. And if they were not agreeable to the proposal, then they should evolve a consensus on seats-adjustment in provincial assemblies according to their numerical strength to make ensure each party gets its due share.
“Political parties should evolve a consensus before March 5 election and their leaderships should convey to each other the adjustment formula,” the premier said.
“Being the upper house of the parliament, the Senate is sacred and it is binding upon all political parties to preserve and enhance its sanctity, making the process of its election fully transparent,” a statement issued by the Prime Minister House quoted Nawaz as saying.
He added that buying and selling of votes by parliamentarians was a matter of concern for all democratic forces in the country. “I urge the political parties to put an end to horse-trading and save the Senate from corruption so that democracy can flourish in the country,” he said.
Attendees at the APC included Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Farooq H Naik and Sherry Rehman from the PPP, Farooq Sattar and Abdul Rashid Godil from the MQM, Shafqat Mahmood, Arif Alvi and Shireen Mazari from the PTI, JUI-F’s Maulana Fazlur Rehman, PML-F’s Pir Sadruddin Shah, PkMAP’s Senator Abdul Rauf, Jamaat-e-Islami’s Sahibzada Tariqullah, and ANP’s Haji Ghulam Ahmad Bilour and Mian Iftikhar.
According to sources, Imran Kahn’s PTI offered the prime minister that its lawmakers would return to the National Assembly and vote for the 22nd constitutional amendment bill, if the government decided to put it to vote in the lower house of the parliament.
The PTI has been boycotting the proceedings of the house since August 2014 and has linked its return to the parliament to the formation of a judicial commission to probe the alleged fraud in the May 2013 elections.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 28th, 2015.
All political parties agree that political horse-trading is a bane – and that it must end. Nonetheless they refused to endorse, for their own reasons, a constitutional amendment proposed by the ruling PML-N on Friday to put an end to wheeling and dealing in the Senate elections to be held early next month.
The 22nd constitutional amendment bill was put before the leaders of all parliamentary parties by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif at an all parties’ conference (APC) which was convened to discuss how to make the elections to the upper house of parliament fair and transparent.
The response to the proposed law was, however, tepid. The parliamentary leaders cited their own reasons for their non-agreement. Instead they proposed a seats-adjustment mechanism to make sure all parties get shares in proportion to their numerical strength in provincial legislatures.
All major political parties – including PPP and JUI-F of Maulana Fazlur Rehman – openly opposed the government move to introduce a 22nd amendment to the Constitution to do away with the menace of political horse trading, sources told The Express Tribune.
The PPP, JUI-F and smaller parties from Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa said that instead of interdicting horse-trading through a constitutional amendment, the political parties should control their lawmakers in federal and provincial legislatures.
They suggested the 22nd constitutional amendment bill be sent to a multiparty parliamentary committee which has been tasked to reform the country’s decades-old electoral system rigged with flaws. They said a constitutional amendment should be made for reforms, and not for any specific agenda.
They heaped criticism on the government for its ‘delayed move’, saying that the constitutional amendment should have been introduced six months before the Senate elections. At the same time, they blamed Imran Khan’s PTI for the delay in electoral reforms committee’s recommendations as the PTI has not been attending National Assembly sessions.
However, these parties agreed to evolve a consensus before March 5 to make sure all parties get their due shares in the Senate through seats-adjustment.
Earlier, the prime minister presented the 22nd constitutional amendment bill to the parliamentary leaders and asked them that if they endorsed the bill, the National Assembly would be convened on Monday to vote on it. And if they were not agreeable to the proposal, then they should evolve a consensus on seats-adjustment in provincial assemblies according to their numerical strength to make ensure each party gets its due share.
“Political parties should evolve a consensus before March 5 election and their leaderships should convey to each other the adjustment formula,” the premier said.
“Being the upper house of the parliament, the Senate is sacred and it is binding upon all political parties to preserve and enhance its sanctity, making the process of its election fully transparent,” a statement issued by the Prime Minister House quoted Nawaz as saying.
He added that buying and selling of votes by parliamentarians was a matter of concern for all democratic forces in the country. “I urge the political parties to put an end to horse-trading and save the Senate from corruption so that democracy can flourish in the country,” he said.
Attendees at the APC included Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Farooq H Naik and Sherry Rehman from the PPP, Farooq Sattar and Abdul Rashid Godil from the MQM, Shafqat Mahmood, Arif Alvi and Shireen Mazari from the PTI, JUI-F’s Maulana Fazlur Rehman, PML-F’s Pir Sadruddin Shah, PkMAP’s Senator Abdul Rauf, Jamaat-e-Islami’s Sahibzada Tariqullah, and ANP’s Haji Ghulam Ahmad Bilour and Mian Iftikhar.
According to sources, Imran Kahn’s PTI offered the prime minister that its lawmakers would return to the National Assembly and vote for the 22nd constitutional amendment bill, if the government decided to put it to vote in the lower house of the parliament.
The PTI has been boycotting the proceedings of the house since August 2014 and has linked its return to the parliament to the formation of a judicial commission to probe the alleged fraud in the May 2013 elections.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 28th, 2015.