The changed situation: Govt’s ambitious unilateral legislative agenda stands nowhere

ISLAMABAD: Plans to implement the legislative agenda the government was determined to bulldoze without breaking bread with the opposition have received a serious setback and may not be realized in the near future in view of the changed situation, especially the uneasiness and non-cooperation of its coalition partners.

For now, the fate of the far-reaching amendments in the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) law and Elections Act, binding the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to use the electronic voting machines (EVMs) and enable the overseas Pakistanis, which were promulgated through presidential ordinances, are unlikely to get the parliament’s nod. Another one-man specific ordinance that was meant to unseat Ishaq Dar as senator-elect is also not expected to be approved by the legislature.

Over the last three years, the government faced no problem in passing its proposed laws in the National Assembly because of its majority. However, the emerging situation indicates that this may not be as easy any more even in this house as in the past.

In the Senate, the ruling party always encountered roadblocks and a number of its bills had been rejected because of the numerical domination of the opposition parties. The government found a way to bypass the Senate by referring all the controversial bills that the opposition disapproved of to a joint session of parliament and get them passed.

But this avenue has also been closed now if the recent hasty adjournment of the joint parliamentary session is an indicator. This has created a scenario where the government will be unable to conduct any legislation, particularly anything opposed by the opposition forces.

The situation has reached a stage where the ruling coalition now has to give a serious thought to engaging the opposition parties for consensus law-making. Mere attacks its rivals accusing them of seeking an NRO (amnesty) whenever there have even been superficial parleys between the two sides, has to now be shunned for confidence building that the government means business if it is sincere and serious in conducting legislation.

Prime Minister Imran Khan’s fixation and obsession with introducing the use of EVMs at any cost is evident from the fact that even before the measure was approved by parliament, he had got an ordinance promulgated which made it mandatory for the ECP to procure such equipment and enable, with the technical assistance of the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) or any other authority and agency, Pakistani expatriates to exercise their right to vote while staying in their country of residence in the next general elections.

The same is the fate the amendments in the NAB law. They provided that the incumbent chairman of the anti-graft agency can continue in office till the selection of his replacement; he can be reappointed; the president of Pakistan has the powers to remove the NAB chief at his discretion; all the premier decision making bodies of the government are excluded from NAB’s purview, which clearly benefits the present government; and the cases of civil servants having committed mere procedural lapses, bringing no monetary gains to them, are taken out of NAB’s domain.

Under the Constitution, an ordinance has a life of 120 days. It may be alive for another similar period if it is extended by the National Assembly, which can do so only once.

However, if the ordinance is disapproved through a resolution by the opposition-controlled Senate (or the National Assembly), it dies an instant death. That is why the government has avoided tabling the ordinances containing contentious clauses, dismissed by the opposition, in the Upper House of Parliament with its adversaries challenging it to move them in the Senate. Last time,

the government had got passed a couple of ordinances from the joint parliamentary session that had been struck down by the Senate through disapproving resolutions.

Not only the prime minister but his team members and the federal cabinet have consumed innumerable hours in discussing the introduction of EVMs and i-voting for overseas Pakistanis without speaking to the opposition parties.

It has now transpired that the government did not even take its allies on board. If the government had spent even a very small fraction of this time in genuinely debating these matters with the opposition, they would have been resolved a long time ago. Hardly any self-respecting opposition stalwart would now be inclined to sit and earnestly talk to the government if they are being berated day in and day out.

The extended time used by Imran Khan, the cabinet and ministers in talking about the advantages of the EVMs and i-voting has taken them nowhere near achieving their real goal.