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NA panel approves tweaks to election law

Asim Yasin & Mumtaz Alvi
Thursday, Aug 01, 2024

ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Parliamentary Affairs on Wednesday recommended the approval of “The Election (Second Amendment) Bill 2024” with a majority vote. The bill aims to explicitly prohibit independent candidates from joining a political party after the period specified in the Constitution and relevant laws.

During the voting on the bill, eight committee members supported it, while four opposed it. Shahid Akhtar, a Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUIF) MNA, abstained from voting. PPP Member of the Standing Committee Syed Ali Musa Gilani and Izbel Zahri did not attend the meeting. However, Naveed Aamir and Malik Shah attended the meeting.

The bill aims to clarify that independent candidates could not exercise their right to join a political party after a specified period, as outlined in the Constitution and law. “The consent of an independent candidate, once given for joining a political party for clause (6) of Article 51 or clause (3) of Article 106, shall be irrevocable.”

The standing committee, chaired by Rana Iradat Sharif Khan, met at the Parliament House on Wednesday. Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Azam Nazir Tarar briefed the committee on the proposed amendments to Section 66 and Section 106 of the Election Act 2017 (XXXIII of 2017), as well as the insertion of Section 104A. The amendment aims to provide clarity in the law according to the spirit of the Constitution.

Tarar explained that the bill was designed to ensure that no independent candidate could join a political party after the constitutionally specified period and that the decision, once made, was irrevocable. PTI’s Ali Mohammad Khan expressed concern over the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs advocating for the bill, as it was a private member’s bill.

Bilal Azhar Kayani, mover of the bill, stated that the amendment seeks to remove ambiguity, ensuring that if a party fails to submit lists of reserved seats within the prescribed period, it could not be entitled to those seats. He also clarified that independent candidates could not join another party after contesting an election.

Ali Muhammad Khan questioned whether the amendment would apply retroactively. Minister Tarar responded that similar amendments, such as the one to Section 232 of the Election Act, were applied retroactively, abolishing the law of lifelong disqualification.

The law minister also addressed concerns about potential conflicts with Supreme Court decisions, noting that the Election Act 2017 was enacted by the PTI government. He clarified that the petitioner in a relevant Supreme Court case was the Sunni Ittehad Council, not the PTI.

After thorough deliberations, the committee, by majority vote, recommended that the bill be presented in the National Assembly on Thursday and passed by it. The meeting was attended by MNAs Raja Osama Sarwar, Shaikh Aftab Ahmed, Raja Qamarul Islam, Mahmood Bashir Virk, Saad Waseem, Khurram Shahzad Virk, Malik Shah, Naveed Aamir, Nikhat Shakeel Khan, Sahibzada Sibghatullah, Ali Muhammad Khan, Hameed Hussain and Shahida Begum.

Also present were Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Azam Nazir Tarar, Secretary of the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, Secretary of the Election Commission and other senior officials from the ministries and Election Commission.

Meanwhile, a PTI delegation met NA Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq and apprised him of their reservations on the proposed legislation. According to the PTI sources, the delegation, led by former NA speaker Asad Qaiser, met Ayaz Sadiq. Other members of the delegation were MNAs Muhammad Ali Khan, Aamir Dogar, Rai Hassan Nawaz and Khurram Shahzad.

The meeting discussed in detail matters related to parliamentary business. The opposition members conveyed their concerns and complaints to the speaker and they specifically raised the issue of the arrest of members of their party.

The visitors also demanded issuance of production orders of the arrested lawmakers, and the speaker promised to look into the matter as per rules.

The opposition members also informed the speaker about their reservations on the Elections Act Amendment Bill and that how would it undermine the recent verdict of the Supreme Court, depriving their party of its legitimate share in the legislature.

Meanwhile, PTI parliamentary leader in Senate Syed Ali Zafar said they (rulers) were used to bulldozing amendments and keep on bulldozing amendments. In a statement he said, “This reserved seats issue will go to the National Assembly where the majority belongs to them (the government). After that, it will come to the Senate, then they will try to pass it in the Senate as well.”

The government’s objective, he charged, was that the Supreme Court’s judgment on the reserved seats should be abolished. However, he pointed out that under Article 17 of the Constitution, reserved seats would be given in proportion to the general seats won by a particular party. The constitutional expert maintained that the problem of reserved seats could be solved only by constitutional amendment and that the legislation could be passed in parliament through a two-thirds majority. He insisted that if the general law was to be amended, then it would have to be done by a simple majority.