PML-N extends conditional support to 20th Amend Bill
03 February, 2012
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) on Thursday extended conditional support to the 20th Constitutional Amendment Bill that aims to give legal cover to the by-elections held under an incomplete Election Commission (EC) of Pakistan. The party also criticised the role of intelligence agencies in the missing persons' case.
No progress could be made on the 20th Constitutional Amendment Bill, which was on order of the day at the National Assembly (NA). Opposition leader in NA Chaudhry Nisar said before the amendment is passed, the PML-N seeks firm assurance from the government over an independent EC, non-controversial chief election commissioner and an impartial caretaker set up to hold general elections.
He said that his party had no objection to supporting the 20th Constitutional Amendment Bill but "the opposition needs clear assurance from the government that it will consider the proposals that have been put forward".
Chaudhry Nisar said that the 20th Constitutional Amendment Bill should not be passed from the NA only to provide legal cover to members of parliament who had been elected in the by-polls. "But it should be more meaningful by incorporating the suggestions put forward by the PML-N," he added.
The opposition leader also blamed the government for a delay in the completion of the Election Commission, saying, "Despite having support of the opposition for a consensus document, the terms of job of members of the Election Commission could not be approved by the government."
The PML-N's Khawaja Saad Rafiq said that passing the bill only for the validity of the members of parliament who had been elected in the by-polls would not send a positive message. He also called for early passage of an accountability bill "because the time has come to do such legislation to improve the credibility of parliament".
Speaking on the role of intelligence agencies in context of killing of four persons in their custody, Chaudhry Nisar demanded that Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani "bridle" the secret agencies. He also announced that he would go to the Supreme Court at its next hearing of the missing persons' case "to express solidarity with those families whose children had been illegally abducted and killed by secret agencies". He claimed that a secret agency had thrown bodies of the four persons on roads after they had been abducted by "the same agency on their acquittal from the courts of law".
Chaudhry Nisar also asked Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvaiz Kayani to protect the honour and goodwill of the Pakistan Army and take notice of such incidents. "This is a national army and not a mafia … General Kayani must stop such things which tarnish Pak Army's image," he said.
PML-N MNAs also chanted "shame, shame" on the killing of missing persons.
Chaudhry Nisar said that it was a moral and constitutional obligation of all the members of parliament to raise their voice in support of missing persons and against the atrocities of intelligence agencies. He said the parliamentarians should also appear before the Supreme Court to express solidarity with the families of missing persons.
"Whenever the government feels threats from agencies, the prime minister wastes no time in pointing out a state within the state, but in this case, no government functionary has come forward to speak in favour of common citizens," he said, and asked the prime minister to reign in secret agencies and bring their heads before parliament so that lawmakers could held them accountable.
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