Opposition moves two motions in parliament

The combined Opposition on Tuesday moved two motions in the Parliament, seeking debate on the government's reneging on its commitment to pass on benefits of the 25 percent cut in oil prices in the international market to the common man.
These motions referred to the government's commitment on the floor of the National Assembly and the Senate several times that POL prices would be slashed in case of their reduction in the world market.
Through these motions, Opposition sources told Business Recorder that the lawmakers sought an explanation from the government for reneging on its commitment to review prices so as to provide some relief to the people.
The nine senators, who signed the motion, include Opposition Leader Raza Rabbani, Professor Khurshid Ahmed, Asfandyar Wali, Dr Babar Awan, Dr Safdar Abbasi, Rukhsana Zuberi, and Dr Abdul Malik. Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Naheed Khan, Sherry Rehman, Qurban Ali Shah, Qamar Zaman Kaira, Khawaja Asif and Tehmina Daultana were among 16 MNAs who inked the motion filed in the National Assembly.
Sources said the Opposition was also contemplating to file a privilege motion against the government, the first of its kind for denying benefits of POL prices cut despite committing to do so. Meanwhile, the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) has submitted a draft bill in the National Assembly, seeking to introduce 'labour-friendly' amendments to the Labour Laws (Amendment) Act, 2005.
In the objectives and reasons, the MMA contended that the labour laws present a vague picture of the labour rights and the last year's amendments further compounded difficulties of the labour class. The proposed piece of legislation is targeted to do away with exploitation of the male and female workers and labourers, and also help improve working environment, creating an ideal relationship between employers and employees.
The bill seeks to replace the figure Rs 6,000 with Rs 3,000 per month, amending the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1923. Likewise, in the Factories Act, 1934, in section 38, for the word 'twelve', the words and commas 'ten and a half hours', or where the factory is seasonal, 'eleven and a half' shall be substituted.
It also envisaged that except, as otherwise, provided in the West Pakistan Shops and Establishments Ordinance, 1969, every establishment shall remain entirely closed for at least one day in each week.
In section 10, the word 'twelve' shall be substituted by the word 'ten' and the word 'nine' shall be substituted by word 'eight' and in the proviso, occurring thereafter the word 'fifty-four' shall be substituted by the word 'forty-eight'. Liaquat Baloch, Abdul Sattar Afghani, Sabir Hussain Awan, Hafiz Salman Butt, Laeeque A. Khan, and Syed Bakhtiar Mani are the movers of the bill.