Joint session of parliament: Allies oppose govt move to empower caretaker setup

ISLAMABAD: A move apparently from the PML-N to empower the coming caretaker government to take major administrative and economic decisions hit snags at a joint session of parliament after two main allies of the regime, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and JUI-F, along with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, opposed the controversial clause of the Election (Amendment) Bill, 2023 even before it was tabled in the house on Tuesday.

After the JUI-F Senator Kamran Murtaza said that his party was not in favour of the amendment in Section 230 of the Election (Amendment) bill, 2023, senators Mian Raza Rabbani, Taj Haider of PPP, JI’s Mushtaq Ahmad Khan and Ali Zafar of PTI also pointed out that the controversial clause was not discussed at the parliamentary committee’s meeting. “I want to put this on record that I was not absent even for a minute from the meeting and the amendment was not taken up there,” Taj Haider said. This prompted Speaker Raja Parvaiz Ashraf to defer consideration on the bill till Thursday.

Senator Raza Rabbani maintained that he was not against other clauses of the bill but he strongly opposes the insertion of clause 2A, which amends Section 230 of the Election Act, 2017. He also pointed out it was clearly mentioned in the law and verdicts of superior courts that the role of caretakers was very limited and totally different from the elected government. He said the caretaker government was meant to take care of day-to-day affairs of the country and hold fair and free elections.

“In the caretaker setup, the government does not go to cold storage, rather it goes slow for the reason that caretakers are unelected,” he said.

Rabbani strongly objected to the addition of the words “on urgent matters” after ‘day-to-day matters’ in Clause 230(a) of the Elections Act, 2017, which says the caretaker government shall perform its functions to attend to day-to-day matters which are necessary to run the affairs of the government. He said the words “urgent matters” have very vague and vast meanings, which reflects the government wants unbridled powers for the caretaker government which was unelected.

JUIF Senator Kamran Murtaza said that they could not support legislation against the Constitution. “I also talked to the party’s parliamentary leader Shahida Akhtar Ali who said the issue was not discussed in the meeting,” he said.

The JUI-F senator said as per the Constitution, a caretaker government could not take major decisions. “In clause 2A, which is being inserted in the bill, the caretakers are being empowered to take economic decisions which can have impacts for 30 years,” he said adding that he strongly opposed the move and do did his best party.

Defending the amendments, Minister for Law Senator Azam Nazeer Tarar said that empowering the caretaker government was meant to ensure the continuity of measures that were agreed with the IMF as the same could not be put in the cold storage. He said the caretaker setup was also being given powers to take decisions on urgent matters, including transfers, which could have been made on a political basis. The minister for law insisted that the proposed amendments in the bill were finalised in consultation with all the political parties represented in the parliament.

Tarar said that a special committee led by Sardar Ayaz Sadiq also held a series of meetings for discussion on the bill. The members of the committee also included Dr Fahmida Mirza, Chaudhry Tariq Bashir Cheema, Syed Naveed Qamar, Afzal Khan Dhandla, Agha Hassan Baloch, Senator Taj Haider, Senator Kamran Murtaza, Senator Ali Zafar, Senator Manzoor Ahmed and Agha Hassan Baloch. He said the bill was widely circulated in the House many times before and debates were also conducted.

Responding to objections of some members on the inclusion of bills in the agenda of the day without sharing copies with them, Minister for Law Senator Azam Nazeer Tarar said that some bills were pending for two years and were now included in the order of the day as the government was nearing its end. He said the parliamentary committee on Electoral Reforms has prepared a consensus report for amendments in the Election Act with the aim to ensure transparency in the electoral process. “We performed this task in the national interest and nothing has been kept under the carpet.”

Senator Raza Rabbani and Senator Ali Zafar proposed that bills containing amendments should be deferred for a day. Senator Mushtaq Ahmad Khan also objected that the agenda having 25 points, copies of bills and amendments were not provided to him.

Meanwhile, women from the opposition PTI protested in the joint session of parliament after Defence Minister Khawaja Asif used sexist and derogatory remarks while referring to them — in yet another instance of using offensive language for women politicians. He made the remarks in response to criticism by parliamentarians — including PTI Senator Ali Zafar — of the manner of legislation in parliament and bulldozing of bills.

In his address, Asif made a reference to former prime minister Imran Khan, recalling the bulldozing of legislation and dissolution of the National Assembly during his tenure. “Depraved women should not lecture on chastity,” he said, following which a woman was heard responding to him.

To that, Asif said if he says anything else, they would use the woman card. “They will say ‘We are women and how he is talking about us’.” At this point, laughter was heard in the House. Asif then went on to call the women parliamentarians the “remains” and “ruins” of Imran, pointing towards the benches where PTI members were seated, including senators Zarqa Suharwardy Taimur, Sania Nishtar, Falak Naz Chitrali and Fawzia Arshad.

“This is the garbage left behind” by the PTI chief, “which has to be cleaned”, he added. This drew a strong reaction from the PTI women parliamentarians who stood up and demanded that Asif take his words back.

Amid loud protest from them, the defence minister continued with his address, saying, “He (Imran) doesn’t have the courage to appear in courts today … And they defend him. How brave and courageous will a person be who is defended by women?”

Speaking after Asif, Senator Zarqa Suharwardy Taimur said only one’s moral character and conduct differentiates people. “I was worried at the language being used by such senior political figures, I’ve never heard such words in my house.”

She said it was sad that fellow MNAs had used words such as “garbage” and “barking”. “We don’t respect someone else when we don’t consider our own self to be respectable,” Taimur added.

Strangely there was no strong condemnation of the remarks during the session from any of the members apart from those of the PTI. The PTI termed the remarks “absolutely shameful”.

Later, the chair expunged the remarks of Defence Minister Khawaja Asif and Senator Ali Zafar of PTI after the two parliamentarians indulged in an exchange of harsh words. Ali Zafar referred the government members to a herd of sheep. Minister for Defence Khawaja Asif supported the law minister’s statement, affirming that all amendments in the Elections Commission bill were made with the consensus of all political parties present in parliament.

Minister for Economic Affairs and Political Affairs Sardar Ayaz Sadiq said all amendments and suggestions of members were incorporated into the Elections (Amendment) Bill, 2023 adding that the report was prepared after consensus. He said the Speaker National Assembly and chairman Senate had jointly constituted a committee comprising members from both houses to address election-related issues raised by the parliamentarians and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and the report was prepared after detailed deliberation and consensus of all members.

Coming hard on Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq said those who attacked the parliament and Pakistan Television were now talking about the supremacy of parliament. “The National Assembly was illegally dissolved by PTI despite moving of vote of no-confidence against the-then prime minister by the joint opposition,” he said.

The minister said Yadgars (monuments) of those who rendered the supreme sacrifice and laid down their lives for the motherland were attacked on May 9. He requested the Chair to screen a documentary of those who inflicted loss on Pakistan since 2014. He said the event proved as to who Mir Sadiqs and Mir Jaffars were.

Senator Irfan ul Haq Siddiqui of PML-N called for maximum consensus on legislation and appreciated the chair for giving its ruling in that regard. The governments change after some time but legislation and laws remain in place for a long time, he added. He said those who are talking about the supremacy and sovereignty of parliament, their government had promulgated a record 70 ordinances during their three and a half years tenure.

Speaker Raja Pervez Ashraf directed to defer eight bills and give time to the lawmakers for consideration on amendments proposed in them. The deferred bills included the Elections (Amendment) Bill, 2023; the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2023; the Exit from Pakistan (Control) (Amendment) Bill, 2023; the Maintenance and Welfare of Old Parents and Senior Citizens Bill, 2023; the Civil Servants (Amendment) Bill, 2023; the Banking Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2023; the International Institute of Technology, Culture and Health Sciences Bill, 2023 and the Code of Civil Procedure (Amendment) Bill, 2023.

Earlier, the joint sitting, however, passed three government bills, including the Qanun-e-Shahadat (Amendment) Bill, 2023; the Control of Narcotics Substances (Amendment) Bill, 2023 and the Petroleum (Amendment) Bill, 2023.