After days of 'ceasefire' between the government and opposition since the start of the ongoing session of the Upper House of the Parliament on January 1, the opposition senators on Friday slammed the treasury benches for reviving the practice of relying on presidential ordinances instead of parliamentary legislation.
During the Senate proceedings presided over by Deputy Chairman Senate Saleem Mandviwalla, Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Azam Swati on behalf of Law Minister Farogh Naseem laid before the Senate the Enforcement of Women's Property Rights (Amendment) Ordinance, 2019.
The ordinance seeks certain amendments to the Enforcement of Women's Property Rights Bill 2020, which was passed by the National Assembly on January 10, 2020 and is presently under the review of the Senate standing committee.
Fumed over the laying of presidential ordinance, the senators from opposition came down hard on Swati for "yet again bypassing the Senate through another ordinance and undermining the Parliament's dignity." Even the chair questioned the government's move to introduce an ordinance when the related bill is already pending with the Senate committee.
"I fail to understand the logic behind bringing this ordinance when the bill is already pending with the Senate committee. Why is it even necessary to resort to such a move?" Mandviwalla asked Swati.
The minister replied that the ordinance seeks to make certain amendments to the bill that is under the committee's review. Taking the floor, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Parliamentary Leader in Senate Mushahidullah Khan said, "When the Senate is in session, laying an ordinance in Senate is totally necessary, unconstitutional and uncalled for. The government is making a laughingstock of itself by resorting to such kind of controversial measures."
He accused the law minister of threatening him two weeks ago on the floor of the house. Recalling the said episode, Mushahid said, "The law minister had presented a number of bills in the Senate and I had recommended that these bills be referred to the relevant standing committees instead of getting them passed straightway.
The law minister did not like that and told me 'Yaad Rakhiye Ga' (remember this). Given that this threat came from an MQM (Muttahida Qaumi Movement), and honestly speaking, I was quite intimidated given the MQM's history of violence and bloodbath in Karachi."
In the same vein, Mushahid added, "But he (Farogh) shouldn't be mistaken. Neither do I threaten anyone nor do I accept threats. How can he threaten me? I would not tolerate this. This man (law minister) was the lawyer of the killers involved in Baldia Town Factory carnage in which more than 250 people including women and children were burnt alive. I know everything. Don't try to mess with me."
Upon this, the chair intervened and told Mushahid, "You are taking it personal. I don't think that he (law minister) intended to threaten you."
Leader of the House in Senate Shibli Faraz also said that the law minister had no intention to threaten the PML-N senator and his remarks were "taken out of context."
On the insistence of Mushahid, the chair referred the matter to the Senate Standing Committee on Rules of Procedure and Privileges. Speaking on the floor of the House, Pakistan People Party's (PPP) Parliamentary Leader Sherry Rehman also criticized the treasury benches on the issue of presidential ordinance, "The ongoing session of the Senate (295th) will continue for the next one month.
The treasury benches can present the related bill anytime during the Senate session once it is passed by the relevant Senate standing committee. There is no justification and no example to bring an ordinance to amend a bill that is already under the review of the committee."
Siraj-ul-Haq from Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) also endorsed the PML-N and PPP senators that the practice of ordinances should be abolished and parliamentary legislation should be relied upon through mutual consensus.
Since January 8, the treasury and opposition benches in Senate have come together to pass a number of important bills including government and private member bills and even those presented by the opposition senators.
The government bills passed in the ongoing session include the Pakistan Army (Amendment) Act 2020, the Pakistan Air Force (Amendment) Act 2020, the Pakistan Navy (Amendment) Act 2020, the Federal Government Employees Housing Authority Bill 2019 and the Naya Pakistan Housing and Development Authority Bill 2019.
The key private member bills passed by Senate include Islamabad Community Integration Bill 2019, moved by Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) leader Rana Maqbool Ahmad.
The Post Office Bill 2019, moved by treasury benches' Senator Khushbakht Shujat from Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), and the Regulation of Generation, Transmission and Distribution of Electric Power (Amendment) Bill, 2019, moved by Leader of the House in Senate Shibli Faraz, have also been passed by the Senate.
Important government bills that are expected to be passed by the Upper House in the coming days include the Zainab Alert, Response and Recovery Bill 2020, the ICT Rights of Persons with Disability Bill 2020, the Letters of Administration and Succession Certificates Bill 2020, the Legal Aid and Justice Authority Bill 2020, the Anti-Money Laundering (Amendment) Bill 2019, the Foreign Exchange Regulation (Amendment) bill 2019 as well as other bills. The Senate will meet again on Monday.