ISLAMABAD: A joint sitting of Pakistan’s parliament on Thursday passed amendments to accountability and electoral laws only a few days after President Dr. Arif Alvi returned the two pieces of legislation to the government for review and possible modifications.
Last week, the president, who belongs to former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, sent the two crucial bills back while exercising constitutional powers vested in his office.
Alvi objected to the government’s decision to prevent the use of electronic voting machines in general elections and barring overseas Pakistanis from voting.
He also noted that the amended accountability law had shifted the onus of proof to show money trail from the accused to the prosecution in white collar crimes, saying it would make the accountability process a futile exercise.
The government decided to convene the joint sitting of parliament to get approval for the bills. Both the legislative pieces will be sent again to the president for his assent, though they will automatically become law even if he does not sign them within ten days.
“NAB [National Accountability Bureau] was used for political engineering as the person who was accused of any corruption or malpractice had to prove his innocence,” law minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said while speaking on the floor of the house after presenting the two bills.
“The president returned these bills [to the government for reconsideration] just to cater to the whims of the [PTI] party he is associated with,” he added.
The coalition government has been insisting to introduce electoral reforms and amendments in the accountability laws before going to the next general elections scheduled for August 2023. The ousted prime minister Khan’s party has been pushing for early elections while opposing these legislations.
Female PTI lawmakers staged a protest demonstration outside parliament while the joint sitting was underway to pass the legislations. The protest was led by PTI leaders Aliya Hamza, Kanwal Shauzab and Maleeka Bokhari. The parliament’s security staff closed the main gate, barring entry of the protesting lawmakers into the building.
Khan’s party had given overseas Pakistanis the right to vote through i-voting and use of electronic voting machines in general elections. However, the coalition government led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif reversed the provisions by amending the election law.
Last month, the law minister said the government did not want to disenfranchise Pakistani nationals living abroad but wanted to test the new voting system for them which relied on new technology.
“Overseas Pakistanis are precious asset of the country and the government does not believe in snatching their right to vote,” he said during a speech.
Female PTI lawmakers tried to enter the parliament building by scaling one of the gates to record their protest. They chanted slogans against the government for reversing the amendments in the laws introduced by their party.
PTI lawmakers tendered en masse resignations from the National Assembly on April 11 after Khan was ousted through a no-trust vote in parliament.
