NA body okays bill providing legal cover to by-polls
31 January, 2012
ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee on Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs on Monday approved the draft of the 20th Constitutional Amendment Bill. Only seven of 17 committee members attended the meeting, while the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) boycotted the session. "Our party has decided not to attend the meeting." Anusha Rahman Khan, a committee member from the PML-N, told our sources. The bill protects the lawmakers who had been elected in by-elections following the passage of the18th Amendment from possible disqualification by the Supreme Court. It will now be sent to the National Assembly for voting and, if approved, would be sent to the Senate. Attorney General Maulvi Anwarul Haq told the committee that Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan had "only" requested the court to order removal of flaws in voter lists. "There was nothing [mentioned in Imran's petition] about the legislators elected in the by-elections," he said. The bill aims to rectify a flaw concerning the legal status of lawmakers who had been elected in the by-elections under an incomplete Election Commission. The committee also discussed the role of Election Commission in holding general election in the country, its autonomy and other related issues. It also discussed a report of the sub-committee, prepared by SA Iqbal Qadri and others about amendments proposed to the EC in respect of Electoral Rolls Act, 1974. Election Commission Secretary Ishtiaq Ahmad said a number of problems would be resolved if the commission was made stronger. He said the commission has started making voter lists in collaboration with NADRA, adding, "They will be completed by May 2012." "It is our own initiative and no one has ordered to do so," he said. End.
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