ISLAMABAD: Advisor to Prime Minister on Parliamentary Affairs Dr Babar Awan here on Friday said the government was not withdrawing any legislation.
Dispelling the impression of withdrawing legislation given after the Thursday’s meeting of the Opposition and the government, Dr Babar Awan clarified that the legislation done in the Parliament was valid, lawful and constitutional and would not be withdrawn. “All the bills have been passed as per law despite the efforts by the Opposition to derail the process. The bills have been referred to the Senate of Pakistan and the relevant committees,” he said while addressing a news conference, along with State Minister for Information and Broadcasting Farrukh Habib.
The Advisor said the Parliament of Pakistan had passed 12 bills in one day and 21 legislative instruments the other day pending with different committees since two to three years which he termed as historic. Three bills which have been passed are very important for the nation among which the one is related to ensure safety and protection of women in response to the demand emerged after Motorway incident and the other is related to giving right of vote to the overseas Pakistanis, in compliance with the four different orders of Supreme Court of Pakistan regarding electoral reforms and giving right of vote to overseas Pakistanis, he said.
Criticizing the non-parliamentary behaviour of the Opposition, he said, “This is the first ever Opposition which has boycotted the office of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker and the parliamentary committees, closing the doors for dialogue.”
The Opposition has trampled the sanctity of the prestigious institution of Parliament which was meant for legislating for the downtrodden segments of society empowering them, Dr Babar Awan said.
The government had always shown seriousness over bringing of transparency in election through using Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) however the Opposition parties, who wanted status quo to persist, were not in favour of EVM, he said.
He said those who had managed thousands of fake votes in their constituencies were feared of their failure in case of transparent election. “Election is the matter of nation in terms of determining their future not a political party or the government,” he added. Dr Babar Awan surprisingly said the Opposition parties objecting and boycotting the bills neither read those bills nor suggested any single amendment.
He said the government would play its vibrant role in the committee to be formed for addressing the issues of violating ethics and parliamentary traditions in the Parliament and opposing legislation. “Whenever any deadlock appears, the government always steps forward and resolves issues,” the Advisor said, adding since the government led by Imran Khan came into the power, the institutions were getting strength.
Criticizing the Opposition leader’s stance that how the overseas Pakistanis can understand the issues of Pakistan, Dr Babar Awan said, “If Nawaz Sharif sitting abroad can address the nation and claim to understand the issues of Pakistan well, then overseas Pakistanis better also know the issues of the country.”
The government has always acknowledged the valuable contribution of overseas Pakistanis in terms of remittances and they must be given right to vote in elections, he stressed. He asked the Opposition leader to focus on supremacy of the Parliament for legislation
Dr Babar Awan said the opposition leader, instead of pursuing futile efforts for removal of the elected Prime Minister from his seat and the government through dragging institutions in the politics, should respect the sanctity of the Parliament and play constructive role. He said the government was ready to have dialogue with the opposition on all matters except NRO.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
Comments
Comments are closed.