ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) together with the opposition parties in the National Assembly, including the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) forced the government to defer the passage of The State-Owned Enterprises (Governance and Operations) Bill, 2024, till further deliberations at the committee concerned.
Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar sought permission to present the supplementary agenda item on the private members’ day, containing the introduction and passage of The State-Owned Enterprises (Governance and Operations) Bill, 2024, as passed by the Senate.
However, members from the opposition parties, including chief whip of the SIC Amir Dogar and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) MNA Aliya Kamran raised objection on tabling the bill as a supplementary agenda item on a private members’ day.
Senate passes SOEs amendment bill
Dogar questioned as to whether the Leader of the Opposition was taken into confidence prior to bringing the supplementary agenda item, adding that as per the rules, it is mandatory to take the Leader of the Opposition on board before any supplementary agenda item is taken.
PPP’s leader Syed Naveed Qamar suggested that the bill should be referred to the committee concerned for further deliberation prior to its passage from the House.
Speaking on the bill, Leader of the Opposition Omar Ayub said that the bill will not serve the purpose of doing away with the rising circular debt.
He added that members of the board of directors of the state-owned enterprises (SOEs) should be appointed on merit instead of nepotism.
In his response, the law minister said that the bill aims at addressing the governance issues and he also agreed with the members to refer the bill to the committee concerned for further discussion.
He further stated that it was agreed in the business advisory committee, attended by members from all the parliamentary parties, to introduce the said bill as a supplementary agenda item.
In its statement of objects and reasons, the bill states that The State-Owned Enterprises (Governance and Operations) Act was promulgated in February 2023.
It added that the Act, inter alia, provides for the matters relating to the constitution of the boards of directors of the SOEs. It stated that there is a need to reconstitute the Boards of SOEs to better align them with the reform initiatives aimed at restructuring and transformation as well as privatisation of certain entities.
In order to achieve the objectives, it added that there is a need to strengthen the provisions for the removal of directors under this Act.
Overall seven bills were introduced in the House which transacted private members’ business.
These include; “The South City University Bill, 2024”, “The Child Marriage Restraint (Amendment) Bill, 2024”, “The Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2024) (Amendment in Article- 175A and 215)”, “The National Commission for Minorities Bill, 2024”, “The Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2024) (Article-51 and 106)”, “The Nippon Institute of Advanced Sciences Bill, 2024”, and “The High Courts (Establishment) (Amend-ment) Bill, 2024”.
The Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2024) (Amendment in Article- 175A and 215) was moved by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)’s Asad Qaiser which aims to provide that the appointment of the chief election commissioner be made on a rotation basis from all the provinces and that a procedure should also be made to ensure the appointment of the judges on merit instead of “nepotism”.
The law minister agreed with the PTI member and suggested that a procedure should be adopted for the appointment of the judges on merit.
The House also referred, “The International Institute of Technology, Culture and Health Sciences Bill, 2024” and “The State-Owned Enterprises (Governance and Operations) Bill, 2024” to the standing committees concerned for further deliberations before putting them for passage.
The House passed, “The Christian Marriage (Amendment) Bill, 2024” and “The Pakistan Psychological Council Bill, 2024.”
Earlier, the House adopted a motion authorising the speaker National Assembly to appoint a special committee on Kashmir comprising 22 members in proportion to their representation in the Lower House.
The motion, moved by Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, also authorised the speaker to include six senators, three each from the treasury and the parties based on their strength in the Senate.
The speaker was also authorised to make changes in the composition of the committee as and when required.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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