The National Assembly on Thursday passed "the Income Tax (amendment) Bill, 2016 and Pakistan International Airlines Corporation (conversion) Bill, 2015 among others amid uproar, protests and walk-outs by opposition members. The opposition members termed the passage of the income tax (amendment) bill a "black law" and even tore copies of the bill in the house as a mark of protest against the government. The opposition members also questioned the absence of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar and Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan from the house.
They also chanted, "black money, not acceptable," and "no, no" vociferously in the house. The house turned into a fish market when Deputy Speaker Murtaza Javed Abbasi refused to allow PTI member Asad Umar to speak on the tax amnesty bill. The PTI members accused the deputy speaker of discrimination and favouritism. "Mind your language," the deputy speaker also fired back at PTI leader Shireen Mazari when she accused him of displaying discrimination and favouritism. All opposition members staged a token walkout from the house following the tirade with the deputy speaker.
The other bills that were passed include: "The Banks (nationalisation) (amendment) Bill, 2015," "The Equity Participation Fund (repeal) Bill, 2014," "The Offences in Respect of Banks (special courts) (amendment) Bill, 2015," and "The Criminal Law (amendment) Bill, 2015."
Passage of one more bill, "The National Energy Efficiency and Conservation Bill, 2015," was, however, deferred for want of further consultation on it. The opposition members strongly protested against the government after Minister for Climate Change Zahid Hamid moved the tax amendment bill and termed it against economic growth of the country and a conspiracy against the poor.
Speaking on the tax amnesty bill, PTI leader Shah Mahmood Qureshi said the government is introducing the scheme to facilitate smugglers and tax fraudsters to get their black money whitened. "Like all the past such schemes, this too will fail," he said, adding the budget deficit will expose all these hollow measures by the end of the financial year.
Qureshi said the government should focus on improving tax to the GDP ratio instead of relying on petty measures like the amnesty schemes. Poverty and unemployment have been constantly increasing in the country, he said, adding the economy has failed to take off during the current government.
PPP leader Naveed Qamar also termed the scheme a failure of the government to take cogent steps to improve the economy. MQM leader Abdul Rashid Godil said it has been a routine to introduce tax incentives for traders and farmers through different schemes. "The salaried people are being taxed only to run the country and it is extremely unfair to them," he said, adding that share of the traders'''' community in the country''''s economy is almost negligible.
Jamat-e-Islami member Sahibzada Tariqullah said the introduction of the tax amnesty scheme is enough to expose double standards of the government. "They (the PML-N) have been refusing and criticising the tax amnesty schemes when they were in position, but now are lauding them as the only solution to improve the economy," he said. Responding to all these points, Parliamentary Secretary for Finance and Revenue Rana Afzal said the scheme is being introduced to increase the tax to GDP ratio to strengthen the country''''s economy.
"When we assumed power in 2013, the total number of taxpayers in the country was 712,000 and it has now increased to over 1.1 million due to consistent efforts of the government," he said. The parliamentary secretary said the scheme is specific for traders only unlike the past schemes that were for all and sundry. "The traders who will benefit from the scheme would become permanent taxpayers and this would benefit the country''''s economy," he said.
The house again witnessed strong protest from the opposition members when Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Shaikh Aftab moved the Pakistan International Airline Corporation (conversion) Bill, 2015 that was not on agenda of the day. The opposition members including PPP''''s Naveed Qamar and PTI''''s Shah Mahmood Qureshi urged the government to defer the bill for next session as the members could not have enough time to examine it.
They also questioned urgency of the government behind passage of the PIA bill, saying the government is in a hurry as it wants to sell the national carrier. They also termed it illegal and against the parliamentary norms for what they called as inclusion of the bill secretly in agenda of the day.
The opposition members again walked out of the house in a protest against the government but the MQM abstained. The National Assembly also passed a resolution strongly condemning the Wednesday''''s attack on Bacha Khan University in Charsadda. The resolution moved by Minister for Railways Khawaja Saad Rafique paid tributes to the martyred students, teachers and personnel of law enforcing agencies. It also prayed for early recovery of the injured. The resolution said that the nation will take the war on terror to its logical end.
The house expressed the resolve that the federal and provincial governments and Parliament with the support of the people will take every possible step to make the country peaceful, stable and safe. The house through a resolution also expressed the resolve that work will continue on a war footing to bring the culprits involved in the terrorist incidents to justice.
Replying to a calling attention notice by Sher Akbar Khan and others regarding forced load-shedding by PESCO in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Minister of State for Water and Power Abid Sher Ali assured the house that system will be improved by the end of this year. Responding to another calling attention notice, Minister of State for Capital Administration and Development, Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry said a committee set up by Islamabad High court is looking into the issue of regularisation of contract teachers of Islamabad.
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