ISLAMABAD: The government on Monday evening tabled six ordinances in the National Assembly amid strong protest from the opposition parties. The include the General Elections 2013 Inquiry Commission Ordinance 2015; the Safeguard Measures (Amendment) Ordinance 2015; the Countervailing Duties Ordinance 2015; the Anti-Dumping Duties Ordinance 2015; The National Tariff Commission Ordinance 2015 and the Public Laws of Pakistan (Regulation) Ordinance 2015. As the chair asked Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Shaikh Aftab to table the ordinances, Opposition Leader Syed Khursheed Shah strongly objected to the move. He said the government should refrain from turning the National Assembly into a factory of ordinances. He said it was rare to see half a dozen ordinances being tabled in the House on a single day. “When we were in the government we used to take the opposition into confidence whenever we brought any legislation in Parliament but the attitude of the present government was not proper,” he said. He also came down harsh on the cabinet members for not attending the house proceedings despite repeated assurances given by the government. He regretted that senior officials of ministries were also not present in the galleries to take notes. He said the opposition would consider boycotting the proceedings of the House if the concerned ministers do not attend the question hour.Abdul Rashid Godail of Muttahidda Qaumi Movement (MQM) also strongly objected to tabling six ordinances in the National Assembly, saying it was breach of privilege of the house and its standing committees. The MQM parliamentarian regretted that not federal ministers but the also does not attend the National Assembly sessions regularly.Jamaat-e-Islami’s Tariq Ullah also opposed the practice of introducing ordinances in the house saying the performance of standing committees was unsatisfactory, as bills are not properly discussed there. Ayaz Soomro of PPP said that the purpose of Parliament was to make legislation but this government is more interested in introducing ordinances.The minister of state of for parliamentary affairs while responding to points of order said he has done what he could do to bring the ministers to the House but is helpless in this situation. “Sometime, I also feel that I should resign as minister,” he said. He suggested that the Speaker should also take up the issue with the prime minister. The opposition members including Dr Nafeesa Shah, Dr Shireen Mazari and others demanded revision of Cyber Crimes Bill, which had been approved by the standing committee on information technology. They said that keeping in view the sensitivity of the issue, the Cyber Crimes Bill should be reviewed in detail by the standing committee.Chairman of the standing committee Captain (retd) Muhammad Safdar and another member of the committee Talal Chaudhry who also belongs to PML-N defended the approval of the bill by the committee. “Each and every clause of the bill was discussed at the committee’s meetings,” they said.
