NA panel likely to finalise NAC draft bill today

ISLAMABAD The National Assemblys Standing Committee on Law and Justices meeting here on Saturday will likely to give a final shape to the draft bill regarding National Accountability Commission (NAC), as ostensibly all the hurdles in its way were over after incorporation of the points proposed by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz in it.
It is most likely that the proposed NAC bill will be tabled before the National Assembly for legislation.
When contacted, the Chairperson of the Committee, Ms Nasim Akhtar Chaudhry said the Committee would be meeting on Saturday (today) and it was their earnest effort to table an impeccable draft for legislation in the National Assembly. Though she did not say anything with certainty about the tabling or otherwise of the bill during the upcoming session of the NA. However, she said that they wanted to given a foolproof accountability law to the national, which would replace the existing National Accountability Ordinance.
She further said that in the past the accountability was used as an arm-twisting tool to intimidate the political opponents, adding that now the political parties have a golden opportunity to formulate a transparent and forceful instrument for blanket accountability free of political victimisation.
She further said that they were taking all the members of the Committee along on each and every clause of the bill. She said there was general consensus among the members on most of the points.
She said that they had decided to give both administrative and monetary autonomy to the proposed NAC and its head would be a retired judge but not a serving or retired Army general.
However, the sources privy to ruling Pakistan Peoples Party informed that after the serious reservations shown by the PML-N members of the Committee, Prime Minister Gilani had sent the draft bill of NAC to Mian Nawaz Sharif to propose amendments in it. The PM also assured on the floor of the House that he would get these amendments incorporated in the bill and the same would be presented before the NA for legislation.
The sources in PML-N informed that they had proposed certain changes in the draft and the same would be incorporated in it in the Saturdays meeting of the Committee.
The sources in the Committee informed that except PML-N, the rest of the members were not having any objection over the bill and if both PML-N and PPP would agree on it, the same would be approved by the Committee in minutes. The sources further informed that now both parties were on the same page regarding the draft for the NAC and it would likely to get approval from the committee on Saturday and subsequently become law after passage from both the Houses of the Parliament.