11 govt bills sail through NA amid opposition protest

ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly passed 11 government bills and referred four bills to the relevant standing committees for their further consideration amid protest by opposition lawmakers in front of Speaker’s dais against dispensing assembly rules to consider the bills.

The House passed nine bills after their presentation in the House as Ordinances. According to Rule 120 (6) of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in National Assembly, an Ordinance laid before the Assembly shall be deemed to be a Bill introduced in the Assembly on the day it is so laid. However, the rules were dispensed through passage of motions for immediate consideration of these bills following which these were passed.

These bills were the Medical Tribunal Bill, 2019; the Pakistan Medical Commission Bill, 2019; the Letters of Administration and Succession Certificates Bill, 2019; the Enforcement of Women’s Property Rights Bill, 2019;the Legal Aid and Justice Authority Bill, 2019; the Superior Courts (Court Dress and Mode of Address) Order (Repeal) Bill, 2019; the Benami Transaction (Prohibition) (Amendment) Bill, 2019; the National Accountability (Amendment) Bill, 2019 and the Whistleblower Protection and Vigilance Commission Bill, 2019.

Two other bills passed by the House after reports of Standing Committees were the Code of Civil Procedure (Amendment) Bill, 2019 and the Naya Pakistan Housing and Development Authority Bill, 2019. Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan laid the Recovery of Mortgage-backed Security Ordinance, 2019.

Four bills were referred to the relevant committees after their introduction which were the Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2019; the Islamabad Capital Territory Senior Citizens Bill, 2019; the National Highways Safety (Amendment) Bill, 2019 and the Anti-terrorism (Amendment) Bill, 2019.

The House adopted three resolutions through voice voting to extend the Federal Government Employees Housing Authority Ordinance, 2019, the National Counter Terrorism Authority (Amendment) Ordinance, 2019 and the Pakistan Penal Code (Amendment) Ordinance, 2019 for a further period of 120 days with effect from November 9, 2019. A report of Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat about the Federal Public Service Commission (Validation of Rules) Bill, 2018 was also presented in the House.

Earlier, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan moved motion under rule 288 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the National Assembly, 2007 that the requirements of rule 69 of the said Rules be suspended in respect of Question Hour for today which was passed by the House.

The opposition lawmakers protested in front of the dais of the Chair against dispensing the assembly rules to consider the bills.The Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri adjourned the House to meet again on Friday at 1100 hours after completion of more than 90 per cent agenda.