• Move aims to provide clarity in law, minister claims
• JUI-F lawmaker believes legislation will weaken assembly
• PTI MNA questions removal of ‘bat’ from ballot

ISLAMABAD: As the government struggles to prevent the emergence of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf as the single largest party in the National Assembly, a controversial bill seeking to bar the PTI-backed ‘independent’ legislators from joining the party was rushed through the NA Standing Committee on Parliamentary Affairs, on Wednesday.

The committee met a day after the bill was introduced in the assembly by PML-N lawmaker Bilal Azhar Kayani.

“The Election (Second Amendment) Bill 2024” seeks to bar independents from joining a political party at a subsequent stage after the period specified for the purpose in the law, besides restraining political parties from submitting priority list of their candidates for reserved seats after the passage of stipulated timeline.

The bill was passed by 8-4 votes at the meeting held with MNA Rana Iradat Sharif Khan in the chair.

Shahida Akhtar of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (Fazl) opted to abstain from voting. She, however, observed that such a legislation would weaken the parliament and criticised the government for bulldozing legislation when it wants.

Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar briefed the committee on the proposed amendment to sections 66 and 106 of the Elections Act 2017 XXXIII of 2017 and insertion of Section 104A in the Act. The amendment aims to provide clarity in the law according to the true spirit of the Constitution, he said.

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The minister said that the bill has been designed to explicitly 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 Law, and that the consent of an independent candidate once given for joining a political party for the purpose of clause (6) of Article 51 or clause (3) of Article 106 shall be irrevocable.

He said lawmaking is the job of parliament, and courts can only interpret the Constitution. He said parliament can enact a law where it sees its jurisdiction is being encroached upon and the Constitution is being re-written. He said the bill would remove many confusions.

The defence of a private member bill by the law minister surprised PTI’s Ali Muhammad Khan, who sought to know if the government wanted to adopt it.

In response to Mr Ali Muhammad’s remarks, Mr Kayani — who had moved the bill — said a political party which fails to provide the list of its candidates for reserved seats within the legal timeline loses the right to claim these seats. He said if an independent candidate after his victory joins a political party, cannot join another party afterwards.

Sahibzada Sibghatullah asked if it was the decision of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) or somebody else to deprive the PTI of its poll symbol.

Khurram Shahzad Virk was of the view that the bill was not in the interest of institutions and people of the country.

Mr Ali Muhammad asked under which law the symbol of ‘bat’ was removed from the ballot paper. He also asked why the ECP had recognised PTI after the Supreme Court verdict.

The meeting was attended by MNAs Raja Osama Sarwar, Shaikh Aftab Ahmed, Raja Qamar-ul-Islam, Mahmood Bashir Virk, Saad Waseem, Khurram Virk, Malik Shah, Naveed Aamir, Nikhat Shakeel Khan, Sahibzada Sibghatullah, Ali Muhammad Khan, Hameed Hussain and Shahida Begum.

Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Azam Nazeer Tarar, secretaries of the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs and ECP, Additional Secretary Mohammed Israr and joint Secretary Muhammad Aslam from the Ministry of Law and Justice and other senior officers also attended the meeting.

Published in Dawn, August 1st, 2024