78 senators voted for, three against Constitution (Twenty-eighth Amendment) Bill, 2017; Fazl remains absent, PkMAP opposes bill; Rabbani says he played constitutional role being in House; Dar thanks all
ISLAMABAD: After the National Assembly, the Senate on Tuesday passed the Constitution (Twenty-eighth Amendment) Bill, 2017 to extend the term of military courts for another two years for speedy trial of hardcore terrorists while the government allies abstained.
As many as 78 senators voted in favour of the bill whereas three votes of Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) went against it. JUI-Fazl senators also stayed away from the proceedings. Party leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman was absent from the Senate.
The government had to seek deferrment of the bill on March 22 after finding out 69 (minimum) senators were not around in the House, as two-third members must pass the constitutional amendment.
It took the government about three months to convince the opposition parties, especially the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), which was reluctant to back an extension in the term of military courts, as it feared this was like undermining the civilian courts.
PKMAP’s Senators Usman Kakar, Sardar Muhammad Azam and Gul Bashra voted against the bill. The piece of legislation is now expected to be signed into a law by the president any time. Before the passage of the bill, Finance Minister Muhammad Ishaq Dar justified the legislation and also extended his gratitude to the opposition for voting for the bill. He emphasised that the extension to military courts was meant to tighten the noose around the terrorists.
“Mr chairman, no need to be upset as we all are equally down, but we all are on the same page to eliminate the menace of terrorism as at present, the country is facing three serious challenges which include security, economic, and power crisis,” he said while pointing towards Chairman Senate Mian Raza Rabbani, who conducted the proceedings with a grim look on his face. Rabbani, however, said that they played the constitutional role by being in the house.
The minister claimed none dared to take on terrorists in the North Waziristan Agency, until operation Zarb-e-Azb was launched during the tenure of the present government. At one time, in reaction to the speech of Senator Sehar Kamran of PPP, he remarked parliaments were never defeated but they did compromises.
Leader of the Opposition Senator Aitzaz Ahsan disagreed with the minister and insisted that the government came to know about military offensive in North Waziristan Agency(NWA) two days after its initiation. He said the general, whom the government was going to appoint head of a Sunni army in Saudi Arabia, launched the offensive in NWA without letting anybody know.
“Dar is a flexible man, but he forgets promises such as formation of parliament’s committee on national security, etc. They had no option but to come to us as they needed votes to pass the bill. Whenever you needed vote, you remember...,” he contended.
Earlier, terming the passage of the Constitution (Twenty-eighth Amendment) Bill, 2017 as a defeat of parliament, opposition senators insisted that had the National Action Plan (NAP) been implemented fully, they would not have been faced with this option of military courts. They called on the government to make sure that before the mandated term of the military courts ends, a strong and fast-track system is in place to avoid the repeat of such piece of legislation.
Some senators even wanted the government to give an undertaking to the Senate that such an arrangement would be desisted in future and that had Justice Faez Essa Commission and Abbottabad Commission reports been made public and NAP implemented, there would have been no need for military courts.
However, Dar defended the initiative and argued that in extraordinary circumstances and security situation, nations had been taking extraordinary decisions and referred to the United States, which had to use tactics like the Guantanamo Bay, tearing away green cards and forcibly pushing people out of the country.
PPP’s Senator from southern Punjab Khalida Parveen charged that the constitutional amendment was a question mark on good governance and revival of the doctrine of necessity.
PkMAP Senator Sardar Muhammad Azam said that while going against the terrorists by voting for military courts, politicians were strengthening dictatorship and claimed no political party here would vote if the military courts were tasked to deal with the menace of corruption and the Panama case.
Senator Sehar Kamran of PPP said today was the day of defeat of parliament and that the legislators had failed to come up to the expectations of masses. She claimed that the Justice Faez Essa report was a mirror for all to learn lessons.
“There is no need for discussion in the House after all parties have agreed on the amendment. It is because of our mistakes that today a voice is echoing in parliament for military courts. Who will hold out an assurance that after two years, there will be no need for such courts and parliament will be strengthened further?” asked ANP’s Senator Sitara Ayaz.
Former interior minister and PPP Senator Abdul Rehman Malik recalled that it was decided previously that a fast-track judicial system would be there within two years. But this could not be done, he regretted. However, he added that though no military courts existed presently in modern countries yet they did not face the challenges Pakistan was confronted with. “We should concede openly that we have made mistakes and could not put in place a fast-track system. Why? There is a need for retrospection for all are to be blamed,” he maintained.
Senator Malik emphasised that instead of a suicide jacket, the nation wanted to give pencil and book to children and called for bringing about a system by the government like the military courts in this respect.
Earlier, Dar defended the amendment and said that all the parties had been taken on board and they had evolved a consensus on having military courts for another two years.
“We are on the right track and already a number of key measures have been taken and there is nothing to worry about,” he maintained while referring to Zarb-e-Azb and allocation of Rs100 billion each year for this purpose.
Later, the Senate adopted a motion empowering the chairman Senate to nominate members from Upper House to become a member of the parliamentary committee on national security, which is likely to be formed to come shortly.
A bill titled “The Illegal Dispossession (Amendment) Bill, 2017” was introduced in Senate, which was referred to the concerned standing committee of the house for further consideration.
