National Assembly passes Election Act (Amend) Bill by majority vote amid ruckus

Lawmakers in the National Assembly on Tuesday passed the Election Act (Second Amendment) Bill 2024 by majority vote amid noisy protests by the Opposition led by the PTI, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

Lawmakers voted clause by clause on the bill as the PTI MNAs raised slogans against the legislation.

The PTI parliamentarians tore apart copies of the National Assembly agenda and threw it towards Speaker Ayaz Sadiq.

The National Assembly voted in favour of the bill proposing amendments to the Elections Act 2017 to refrain lawmakers from changing their party affiliation amid pandemonium by members of the Opposition who labelled the legislation "unconstitutional".

The bill was tabled in the National Assembly by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) MNA Bilal Azhar Kiyani. All the amendments proposed by the opposition were rejected.

The Bill, after approval from the Senate and the president's assent, is aimed at to prevent the individuals who contested the general elections as independent candidates from changing their affidavit at a later stage to declare affiliation with any political party.

The text of the bill reads: “Provided that if a candidate, before seeking allotment of a prescribed symbol, has not filed a declaration before the returning officer about his affiliation with a particular political party by submitting a party certificate from the political party confirming that he is that party’s candidate, he shall be deemed to be considered as an independent candidate and not a candidate of any political party.”

According to Statement of the Objects and Reasons: Articles 51 and 106 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan provide for allocation of seats to the National Assembly and Provincial Assemblies respectively along with mechanism for the elections thereto and include that the independent returned candidate or candidates may duly join a political party within three days of the publication in the official Gazette of the names of the returned candidates.

The Elections Act, 2017 and rules made thereunder also provide for the right to independent returned candidate or candidates to duly join a political party at his consent.

Neither the Constitution nor the Elections Act, 2017 provide for joining a political party by an independent returned candidate or candidates at subsequent stage when they have already exercised the option to join the political party at a point of time as specified in the Constitution.

To provide clarity in the law in true spirit of the Constitution this Bill has been designed to expressly provide for that no independent candidate or candidates shall exercise his/their right to join a political party at a subsequent stage after the period specified for the purpose in the Constitution and the law.

Azeem Tarar defends bill

While explaining the bill, Minister for Law and Justice Azam Nazeer Tarar said that the amendments in the law are not a new thing but it further clarifies the constitution and the rules and laws of elections relevant to Article 51(6), Article 106 (3), Article 63(2) and Section 104 of Election Act, 2017.

Tarar said that legislation is the prerogative of the parliament. He said the bill is in accordance with the spirit of the constitution.

Speaking on the floor of the House, Azam Tarar said that legislation is the prerogative of the parliament. He said the bill is in accordance with the spirit of the constitution.

Taking the floor, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan said that they will challenge the legislation in the Supreme Court.

Addressing the speaker, Gohar said “We always remind you of your oath. You should constitute a committee regarding the abuses our lawmakers are facing.”

PTI flays legislation

Speaking on the floor of the NA, PTI MNA Ali Muhammad Khan argued that the bill would deprive him of his rights while PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan also lamented its consequences for his party.

Ali Muhammad questioned whether the Parliament could be used by a political party to attack the Supreme Court for its political gains. He said his party could not be convicted for something it had done in the past even if the government moves forward with lawmaking against it.

“If my party is being granted a right through a Supreme Court order, how can you make a new law after the Supreme Court’s order and deny us that right?” Ali Muhammad said. “We are protesting. We reject this bill. This is an attack on the Supreme Court through the parliament by the government,” he said, adding lawmaking should be done for the benefit of the country.

“We will go to the Supreme Court against it and this lawmaking will be nullified because the Parliament is not standing behind this, there’s a political party behind it,” he said.

Meanwhile, Shahida Akhtar of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (Fazl) observed that such legislation would weaken the parliament.

Bilal Kayani says bill to end ambiguity

Convener of National Parliamentary Taskforce on Sustainable Development Goals Bilal Azhar Kayani said the Elections (Second Amendment) Bill, 2024 passed by the National Assembly will end ambiguity and provide more clarity regarding reserved seats.

Talking to news men outside National Assembly in Islamabad on Tuesday, he said Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf was not a party in the case, but it was given relief. He said the National Assembly passed the bill today and the government is thankful to the lawmakers for supporting this much needed Bill. He expressed the hope that the Senate will also pass this bill after which it will become a law.

Kayani said the passage of bill will not only support the government, but it will support all the political forces.

Kh Asif says Parliament is all powerful

Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif has said that Parliament is the supreme institution and it holds the authority to enact laws.

Speaking on the floor of the National Assembly, Asif said “We respect all institutions, but they have the mandate to interpret the constitution and not to rewrite.” He expressed concern that interference from one institution into another would weaken the democracy. He said that democracy is far superior to dictatorship and that the respect and constitutional sanctity of the parliament must not be compromised.

He stressed the importance of continuing the democratic journey, acknowledging that while democracy has its shortcomings, these are present even in developed democracies like the UK and the US. “The US and UK are also struggling; candidates are being attacked in the US,” he added.

He added that despite political differences, the institutions of the country must not be attacked. He said, “No system is flawless. We should be thankful that the system is operational in our country. Some people may have some reservations about it, but Parliament is respectable, and question marks should not be placed on it.”

He argued that questioning the legitimacy of Parliament would weaken the system and urged political parties to work towards strengthening democracy and the Parliament.

Regarding the Kashmir issue, the minister highlighted national unity on the matter and reiterated Pakistan’s stance that the Kashmir issue must be resolved in accordance with United Nations resolutions. He lamented that resolutions on Kashmir and Palestine had not been implemented and said that the will of the people of Kashmir must be respected.

He said that Pakistan has fought wars over Kashmir and that the people of Kashmir have made significant sacrifices for liberation from Indian occupation.

Passport issuance

Responding to a calling attention notice, Nazeer Tarar informed the house that work is being done on war-footing to ensure the timely issuance of passports. He said relevant equipment is being procured, including 20 state-of-the-art printers, to enhance the capacity for passport printing to over 55,000 per day.

The minister mentioned that the installation of this equipment will start by the end of September this year and expressed confidence that the situation regarding passport issuance will improve starting in October.

Four bills were laid before the house on Tuesday. These included: The Acid and Burn Crime Bill, the National Commission on the Rights of Child Amendment Bill, Islamabad Capital Territory Child Marriage Restraint Bill and the Ravi Institute Sahiwal Bill. The chair referred the bills to the standing committees concerned.

At the outset, the house offered fateha for the departed soul of late MNA Mumtaz Mustafa and those who died in floods.

The house has now been adjourned to meet again on Friday at eleven am.