People were expecting that 48th session of the National Assembly would seriously take up some important pending legislations such as the much-awaited National Accountability Commission Bill, 2012 and Dual Nationality Bill, 2012. But it seems the government has sniffed that it could not be in a position to muster two-thirds majority for the passage of these important pieces of legislation.
All the political parties agree on a national accountability framework but the bill is lingering as there is no consensus among political parties on the timeframe from where the accountability should get under way. The move to present these bills would be a big test for the government as it requires a two-thirds majority in the National Assembly for their passage, though the government may find no difficulty in getting the required two-thirds majority in the Senate, it may face tough time to get the bill through the National Assembly without the support of the PML-N.
As the 48th session entered into the third day on Wednesday, it seemed that the government was not in a mood to introduce the much-awaited bills. It has passed some bills but all eyes were on the fate of National Accountability Bill, 2012 and Dual Nationality Bill, 2012.
On the other hand the PML-N parliamentarians vehemently opposed the proposed bills even the leader of the opposition in the House, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan stated on different platforms that PML-N would strongly oppose the National Accountability Bill 2012, if the government tabled it in the House. The PML-N parliamentarians were of the view that voting in favour of the National Accountability Commission Bill, 2012 in its current form was like legalising corruption in the country and they would never allow any corrupt person to escape accountability, hence the current form of the bill was not acceptable to the PML-N whose support is mandatory in getting the bill passed with 2/3rd majority.
The nation is completely unaware of the content of much-talked of National Accountability Bill as neither the previous bill nor the new one was circulated to draw public opinion. People are totally ignorant about the contents of the draft bill which has been referred to the standing committee of the National Assembly for scrutiny and resubmission to the House. Probably, efforts are afoot to get it hurriedly passed without debate, which is by no means a healthy sign for budding democracy.
The mood of the parliamentarians during the proceeding of the House on Wednesday depicted that a heated debate might be witnessed, as leader of the opposition along with senior parliamentarians of PML-N was present in the House, but as usual Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan kept mum.
During the proceeding, the importance of question hour was highlighted by the PML-N parliamentarian; Chaudhry Barjees Tahir was of the view that question hour is the only part of the proceeding where the government functionaries were made answerable to the parliamentarians. However, rising trend of not paying heed to the questions of national importance by MPs is eroding the charm of question hour.
The parliamentarians were furious over the issue of landing rights to a private TV channel, Urdu one which according to them is airing the plays contrary to our cultural values. They particularly mentioned a Turkish drama serial presently being screened at prime time which is not a healthy sign for our teething production houses which have just taken roots after the collapse of Lollywood.