Govt ‘bulldozes’ bill barring independents from joining parties through Parliament amid PTI opposition
- Senator Faraz claims the bill tabled in bad faith to prevent the implementation of SC verdict
- Law Minister asserts amendments carried out as per Constitution and NA Rules of Business
ISLAMABAD: The Parliament on Tuesday passed a bill seeking to restrict independent lawmakers from joining a party after a stipulated period despite strong protests and objections from opposition parties, especially the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.
The bill, titled: “Elections (Second Amendment) Act, 2024” has introduced amendments to the Elections Act 2017 and is being seen as a tactic to frustrate the Supreme Court’s July 12 ruling, declaring the PTI eligible for reserved seats.
The House passed the Bill further to amend the Elections Act,2017 [The Elections (Second Amendment) Bill,2024].
The Bill was moved by MNA Mr. Bilal Azhar Kayani.#NAsession @BilalAKayani pic.twitter.com/GA9fbo0c0C
— National Assembly 🇵🇰 (@NAofPakistan) August 6, 2024
The political analysts also described the bill as a move to prevent the PTI from re-emerging as the single largest party in the NA.
Like rumpus and protest in the National Assembly, the Senate also witnessed ruckus as Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) Senator Talal Chaudhry presented the amendment bill. The PTI senator strongly opposed the bill and called it an attack on Constitution and the Supreme Court.
The NA earlier in the day approved a bill proposing amendments to the Elections Act 2017 to bar lawmakers from changing their party affiliation amid strong resistance from opposition benches who termed the legislation “unconstitutional”.
Legislation introduced in bad faith against PTI
Senator Shibli Faraz, while addressing the Senate, sharply criticised the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), stating that “the electoral body is known as the ‘selection commission’ rather than the ‘election commission’.”
“The Election Commission declared our [PTI] intra-party polls null and void and stripped us of our electoral symbol. We were assigned absurd election symbols, such as a shoe, which landed on their [government’s] head,” he said.
According to Senator Faraz, the bill was tabled in bad faith to prevent implementation of the verdict given by a majority of the apex court’s judges.
Calling it a direct attack on the Supreme Court, Faraz asserted that “the PTI opposes the bill as it deprives the party of its mandate”.
‘Elections Bill to provide clarity regarding reserved seats’
Speaking to the media outside the Parliament, Kiyani expressed the hope that the Senate would also pass the bill.
He said the legislation “further clarified and strengthened” already existing laws.
Detailing “three main” changes made in the Elections Act, he said a party that did not submit its list of candidates for reserved seats within the specified period would not be eligible for reserved seats after the elections.
Kiyani asserted that “no one could point out anything in the bill that was practically wrong or in conflict with the Constitution and the law”.
He added that the majority judgment in the case of the reserved seat was in his opinion “not in harmony with the Constitution”.
The PML-N MNA said he agreed with the minority judgment in the case, arguing that the PTI was not even a party in the case whereas the Sunni Ittehad Council was the petitioner yet was “not given any relief”.
Reading out the minority judgment, Kiyani claimed it said that “a new parliamentary party, which did not exist, had been created through the majority judgment”.
Replying to a question, Bilal Azhar Kayani 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. The Convener of National Parliamentary Taskforce said the passage of bill will not only support the government, but it will support all the politic forces.
‘Amendments as per Constitution’
Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar on Tuesday brushed aside the Opposition’s accusations of amending the Elections Act 2017 against the law and clarified that the amendments were carried out as per the Constitution and the National Assembly (NA) Rules of Business.
Responding to PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Khan’s accusations at the point of order during the fourth meeting of the eighth National Assembly session, Tarar underscored that the amendments introduced in the Elections Act 2017 were as per the Constitutional scheme entailed in the Article 51 and 106 and the legal framework adopted by this House, after 102 meetings, with consensus in 2017.
He said the Opposition member had alleged that the Election Act (Second Amendment) Bill 2024 was not being sent to the Law and Justice standing committee of the Lower House of the Parliament.
“As per rules and business, it is allocated to the standing committee of Parliamentary Affairs where SIC’s MNA Ali Muhammad Khan and others deliberated on the matter. The amendment is as per the constitution and within the rules of business and code of conduct of the National Assembly,” the Minister maintained.
Moreover, the minister lashed out at PTI for accusing the government of poor legislation, saying that the party itself had passed 51 bills in a single day during its tenure.
Tarar said that the PTI had acted as a “mission” to open constituencies, with its founder claiming that they would “open up” constituencies that were won by others. He added that the PTI has always been prone to making U-turns, and their own legislative record is a testament to this.
Tarar criticised the PTI for pointing fingers at others, saying that they should examine their own actions before casting aspersions.
A week ago, PML-N lawmaker Bilal Azhar Kayani had introduced the legislation in the NA which had then been rushed through the lower house’s Standing Committee on Parliamentary Affairs by 8-4 votes.
“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,” the text of the bill.
Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar had briefed the committee that the bill would remove much confusion, causing PTI’s Ali Muhammad to express surprise at the minister’s defence of a private member bill.
Meanwhile, Shahida Akhtar of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (Fazl) observed that such legislation would weaken the parliament.
The bill was presented in the Senate later in the day where it was passed by the majority.
Opposition leader Shibli Faraz termed it a “direct attack” on the Supreme Court and its verdict in the reserved seats case.
Meanwhile, the law minister said: “The elected Parliament has the right to lawmaking, not it cannot be given to 17 people.”
The bill also said that an independent candidate shall not be considered a candidate of any party if they filed a statement to that effect at a later stage.
Another amendment proposed to the election laws said a political party should not be allocated seats reserved for women and non-Muslim candidates if it fails to submit its list for the reserved seats within the prescribed time.
Interestingly, the amendments to sections 66 and 104 of the Elections Act also included a declaration that the proposed amendments would take precedence over court orders.
SC’s reserved seats ruling
On July 12, a full court bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, a majority decision had declared the PTI eligible for seats reserved for women and minorities, dealing a major setback to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s ruling coalition.
The verdict came after the top court heard a set of appeals moved by the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) against the denial of reserved seats for women and non-Muslims to it by the Peshawar High Court (PHC) and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
PTI-backed candidates, who had contested and won the February 8 elections as independents after their party was stripped of its election symbol, had joined the SIC to form a coalition of convenience.
The top court on July 12 annulled the decision of the PHC while also declaring the decision of the election regulator null and void, terming it against the Constitution of Pakistan.
