26th Constitutional Amendment Bill: Govt accused of offering massive amounts of money to PTI MPs

ISLAMABAD: As the controversial 26th constitutional amendment bill is set to be tabled in Parliament this week, the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) accused the government on Thursday of offering up to Rs1 billion to party MPs to secure their support for its passage.

Speaking in National Assembly, Omar Ayub, the opposition leader in the house, claimed that the government is openly offering bribes to his party lawmakers, besides kidnapping, threatening and raiding their residences which are shameful.

He said that the wife of Zain Qureshi MNA was kidnapped by plain clothed men outside her residence in Lahore on Wednesday, who was later released on the intervention of NA Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq.

“Our women are being kidnapped at gun point which is evident from kidnapping of Zain’s wife. She was picked up by the plain-clothed men – allegedly from the spy agencies – at 11:30pm and she was released at 5am in the morning after I sought help from NA speaker,” he lamented.

Ayub alleged that senators are among those receiving financial offers, claiming the government’s numbers are not complete, adding the PTI opposes the constitutional amendments, and the committee’s role is not to amend the constitution.

Omar shared his own experience, saying that his house was raided, and added PTI leader Miqdad Ali Khan is currently missing.

Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar has said that despite efforts of a particular party to sabotage Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) meeting, the government successfully conducted the event in Islamabad.

Responding to points raised by the opposition leader, Tarar regretted the political posture of the PTI, saying the party lacks patience and does not listen to the stance of other political parties.

He recalled that the PTI crossed all limits of political victimisation and not even spared women political leaders of PPP and PML-N.

He pointed out that the PTI is perturbed over the successful conduct of SCO conference, which recognised Pakistan’s role in the region.

Tarar claimed the economic indicators are on a positive trajectory with remittances registering record increase, inflation coming down to single digit and surge in foreign exchange reserves.

Asad Qaiser of PTI said that about seven party MNAs are missing, accusing the government of kidnapping them to vote on the controversial bill at gun point, adding these kinds of things are a brazen violation of human rights.

Ali Musa Gilani, the son Senate chairman Yousaf Raza Gilani, condemned kidnapping of Zain Qureshi’s wife, saying if the house could not protect its women, it is of no use to become an MNA.

Agha Rafiullah of PPP urged the PTI to name and shame those who are offering such huge bribes to PTI MNAs and senators, adding if this is true, there should be a proper investigation into it.

Earlier, during question hour, the house was informed that no case has been reported about the issuance of a fake passport to any non-Pakistani citizen.

Answering a question, Tarar said a passport is issued after proper verification process. He said the verification mechanism involves a compatibility with the NADRA data such as Family Registration Certificate to check any loophole.

The house also adopted a motion to discuss the judicial reforms.

The motion was moved by PPP’s Naveed Qamar. Leader of the Opposition Omar Ayub Khan commenced the discussion on the motion.

The National Assembly also passed a resolution for the hosting of successful SCO summit.

The resolution moved by information minister said that the National Assembly acknowledged and appreciated the Government of Pakistan’s commitment to fully supporting the goals and objectives of the SCO.

The house recognised that this was the first major international event in 27 years hosted by Pakistan, marking a significant milestone.

Hosting the SCO summit is a diplomatic victory for Pakistan, and the house commends the government for its achievements on the international front.

The Information minister apprised the house that as per Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report 2023-24 women comprised 70.6 per cent of the total trafficked individuals in the country.

He said that over 70 per cent women out of the total 34,000 victims as per TIP Report 2023-24 made it to 24,000 women victims.

Federal Minister for Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development Chaudhry Salik Hussain informed the house that Pakistan was going to hold its first ever National Council Licensure Exam for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN) for certification of nurses pursuing employment abroad in December this year.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024