ISLAMABAD - Amid loud whistling, sloganeering and verbal brawls, the National Assembly on Monday passed ‘The Election Bill-2017’, paving the way for ousted premier Nawaz Sharif to become head of the ruling party again.
The opposition lawmakers made failed attempts, with their speeches and creating rumpus in the House, to block the passage of the amended bill, which has already been cleared by the Upper House of Parliament.
The opposition MNAs – mostly those belonging to the PTI and the PML-Q – gathered around the speaker’s podium raising anti-government slogans, tearing and throwing the copies of the bill in the air.
The verbal brawl between the two sides at some moment was about to convert into a physical fight but the PML-N senior lawmakers stopped their peers from escalating the situation to smoothly pass the bill with a majority vote.
Perhaps mistakenly, some of the emotional MNAs chanting slogans also broke the table glass of the NA staff sitting beneath the speaker’s dais. Independent lawmaker Jamshed Dasti was prominent, blowing whistles during the legislation.
The House throughout the proceedings witnessed exchange of heated comments from both sides of the aisle. The slogans of “Chor (thief) Dako (robber)” were mostly echoed in the House during the proceedings.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had de-notified Nawaz Sharif as a member of the National Assembly in the light of the Supreme Court’s July 28 verdict, virtually rendering him ineligible to lead his party as its president. But Monday’s legislation will now enable him to reassume the top party position.
The controversial bill, moved by Minister for Law Zahid Hamid, was termed a ‘person-specific bill’ by all the opposition parties. They were sure that this bill would be challenged in courts.
The government side rejected all the amendment proposed by the opposition.
According to the bill, every citizen will have the right to be a part of a political party, except for those in government service, and will also have the right to form a party.
It enables the ECP to scrutinise election expenses within 90 days, failing which election expenses submitted by a political party would be deemed to be correct.
The bill states that any parliamentarian could only be disqualified for a period of five years and that the ECP will be an independent and autonomous body, which will formulate its own laws, and party funding details will be available online.
PPP’s Naveed Qamar, speaking on the bill, said that government was undemocratically giving benefit to one person through legislation on it. “This bill will be challenged in the court,” he said.
PTI’s deputy parliamentary leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that the PML-N has inserted clause-23 in the bill against the spirit of the constitution. “This is a person-specific bill and courts will not accept it,” he said.
PTI’s Shafqat Mehmood, on his turn, said “this person-specific bill is based on fraud and cheating”.
PML-N’s Tehmina Doultana and other PML-N members rose in their seats on the remarks of Shafqat. They warned the PTI MNA not to use objectionable words.
MQM’s S Iqbal Qadri said that the bill would only pave the way for a ‘dishonest person’ to regain his post in the party. “We strongly oppose this bill and government needs to reconsider its clauses.”
AML chief Sheikh Rashid also blew hot and cold on the government for passing the bill with a majority vote.
“The government has fired a rocket launcher on the Supreme Court through the legislation,” he said, questioning why Shehbaz Sharif was not acceptable as the chief of the party.
He faced slogans and teasing comments from treasury members during his speech.
PkMAP chief Mehmood Achakzai tried to defend the bill but faced severe criticism from the opposition side. “This is not the way to blame any person (Nawaz Sharif),” he said.
The PTI MNAs mainly Murad Saeed kept blocking him during his speech.
RIGHT OF ACCESS TO INFO BILL PASSED
The government also with majority vote passed ‘The Right of Access to Information Bill-2017’ amid rumpus.
The statement of objects and reasons of the bill says the bill is intended to promote a two-way flow of information – from the government to the people and vice versa – for strengthening and safeguarding the public’s right to know.
The bill, already passed by the Senate, was introduced to ensure that the citizen may have full access to public records.
The government had earlier failed for five times to legislate on the matter due to the lack of quorum in 46th NA session.
OIL PRICES INCREASE
Opposition Leader Khursheed Shah, on a point of order, demanded the government withdraw the recent increase in the prices of oil products and also maintain the price of electricity.
"The petrol prices are at $44 per barrel. After adding some taxes it should not exceed the Rs66 threshold,” he argued, mentioning that all decision should be taken in the Parliament.
bill’ by all the opposition parties. They were sure that this bill would be challenged in courts. The government side rejected all the amendment proposed by the opposition. According to the bill, every citizen will have the right to be a part of a political party, except for those in government service, and will also have the right to form a party.
It enables the ECP to scrutinise election expenses within 90 days, failing which election expenses submitted by a political party would be deemed to be correct. The bill states that any parliamentarian could only be disqualified for a period of five years and that the ECP will be an independent and autonomous body, which will formulate its own laws, and party funding details will be available online.
PPP’s Naveed Qamar, speaking on the bill, said that government was undemocratically giving benefit to one person through legislation on it. “This bill will be challenged in the court,” he said.
PTI’s deputy parliamentary leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that the PML-N has inserted clause-23 in the bill against the spirit of the constitution. “This is a person-specific bill and courts will not accept it,” he said.
PTI’s Shafqat Mehmood, on his turn, said “this person-specific bill is based on fraud and cheating”.
PML-N’s Tehmina Doultana and other PML-N members rose in their seats on the remarks of Shafqat. They warned the PTI MNA not to use objectionable words. MQM’s S Iqbal Qadri said that the bill would only pave the way for a ‘dishonest person’ to regain his post in the party. “We strongly oppose this bill and government needs to reconsider its clauses.”
AML chief Sheikh Rashid also blew hot and cold on the government for passing the bill with a majority vote.
“The government has fired a rocket launcher on the Supreme Court through the legislation,” he said, questioning why Shehbaz Sharif was not acceptable as the chief of the party.
He faced slogans and teasing comments from treasury members during his speech.
PkMAP chief Mehmood Achakzai tried to defend the bill but faced severe criticism from the opposition side. “This is not the way to blame any person (Nawaz Sharif),” he said.
The PTI MNAs mainly Murad Saeed kept blocking him during his speech.
