ISLAMABAD: As many as three bills - The stock Exchange Bill, 2009, Domestic Violence Bill, 2009, The NFC Institute of Engineering and Technology Multan Bill, 2009 - and a report (recommendations) of Parliamentary Committee on National Security (PCNS) would be presented on Tuesday (today) in a joint-sitting of the parliament for approval, it is learnt.
According to sources in the National Assembly Secretariat, the joint-session of the parliament would continue for three days and as many as six bills would be tabled in the joint-House for passage. The National Assembly already passed these bills but the Senate raised objections to some clauses of those bills and did not pass them within the requisite n39.5inety days.
According to Article 70 of the Constitution under 18th Constitutional Amendment, "(2)If a Bill transmitted to a House under clause (1) is passed with amendments it shall be sent back to the House in which it originated and if that House passes the Bill with those amendments it shall be presented to the President for assent." "(3)If a Bill transmitted to a House under clause (1) is rejected or is not passed within ninety days of its laying in the House or a Bill sent to a House under clause (2) with amendments is not passed by that House with such amendments, the Bill, at the request of the House in which it originated, shall be considered in a joint sitting and if passed by the votes of the majority of the members present and voting in the joint sitting it shall be presented to the President for assent."
The sources said that there were four items (three bills and the report of the Committee) on today's agenda. The sources said that Chairman Parliamentary Committee on National Security Mian Raza Rabbani would present a report (recommendations) in the joint-Sitting for discussion and approval.
President Asif Ali Zardari has specially summoned the long-awaited joint-session of the parliament to take up the recommendations of parliamentary Committee on National Security regarding Pakistan's new terms of engagement with the United States (US) in the wake of last year's Nato attack on Pakistani border post in Mohmand Agency in which 24 security personnel were killed and 12 injured.
The sources said that Finance Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh would present "The Stock Exchange (corporatisation, Demutualization and Integration) Bill, 2009 in the joint-Sitting for passage.
The bill would bring balance among interest of different stakeholders in the corporate and governance structure of a stock exchange. All the three stock exchanges (Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi) are operating as non-profit companies with a mutualised structure. In this structure, the members have the ownership as well as trading rights. This structure inherently creates conflict of interest and results in lack of transparency in the operations of the stock exchanges.
The mutual ownership structure of the exchanges has been an obstacle in both decision making and access to capital. This aspect has been addressed through demutualisation of stock exchanges which is now a well established global trend. Demutualisation/corporation would also assist in attracting international strategic partners.
The bill further stated that a separate Demutualisation Legislation is required to be enacted to provide the necessary legal and regulatory framework for demutulisation under one stand-alone law, as opposed to the stock exchanges having to comply with a multi-layered regulatory regime. Yasmeen Rehman would present The Domestic Violence (Prevention and Protection Bill, 2009. Similarly, Chaudhry Anwar Ali Cheema would table The NFC Institute of Engineering and Technology Multan Bill, 2009 for passage.
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