ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly on Friday passed a resolution seeking the extension of seven ordinances amid protests by the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC)-led opposition in the lower house of parliament.
Federal Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar tabled seven ordinances and two bills in the house, amid strong protest from opposition members.
Bills brought to the House included the Civil Courts Amendment Act 2024 and the Legal Aid and Justice Authority Amendment Act 2024. The Speaker referred the Bills to the relevant Standing Committees.
The Ordinances include Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation (Amendment) Ordinance 2023, Pakistan National Transport Corporation (Amendment) Ordinance 2023, Pakistan Postal Services Board (Amendment) Ordinance 2023, National Highway Authority Ordinance 2023 ( amendment), Criminal Law (Amendment) Order, 2023, Privatization Commission (Amendment) Order, 2023 and Telecommunications Appellate Tribunal Establishment Order, 2023.
SIC chairman Omar Ayub Khan said the opposition had rejected the ordinance. He asked the speaker to take a photo of those favoring the ordinances as they were “handed over to Pakistan for sale”.
SIC’s Ayub said lawmakers need to first see what the regulation is.
“Tell me what it was, tell me under oath how many people in the House read it,” he demanded of MPs sitting on the treasury benches. He said that an ordinance related to privatization has been introduced in NA.
He said even members of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) did not know what they were doing.
“It is about selling these Pakistani institutions, we are working on it,” he said.
After an uproar from the opposition, NA Speaker Ayaz Sadiq conducted a vote count to extend the ordinance. Then 130 votes were in favor of the resolution and 63 were against.
Responding to a procedural objection, the law minister said photographs should be taken of those who committed treason against Pakistan and wrote letters to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Opposition leaders should first read the ordinance before talking about it, he suggested.
The Law Minister also suggested the opposition to stand for the country and not for the “prisoners”.
The tearing documents of SIC members infuriated the speaker, who said he would be forced to take disciplinary action if it happened again.
Tarar said the government will take the opinion of all allied parties. They passed the laws after expanding the old ordinances, he said, adding that they would take the House into confidence for the legislation.
The Speaker referred the bills to the appropriate committee.
At the start of the assembly session, Sadiq administered the oath to five women who became MNAs on reserved seats. After the swearing-in, the number of swearing-in ceremonies in NA reached 316. The new MNAs include Shaheen Habibullah, Ghazal Anjum, Asma Alamgir, Naima Kanwal and Naeema Kishore.
The NA session was postponed indefinitely.
