Chairman Senate drops Bill
ISLAMABAD: Chairman Senate dropped the government’s Prevention of Violent Extremism (Amendment) Bill from the day’s agenda. He did it after some senators raised objections over the Bill. The Senators also opposed the way the Bill was presented in the House.
Sadiq Sanjrani, while chairing a session of the Upper House on Sunday, declared, “I’m dropping the bill, whether the government does it or not.”
File photo of the Senate as chairman Senate drops a Bill when Senators opposed it.
He sought the House’s opinion on presenting the bill before the committee prior to making the decision.
Earlier, the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl also opposed the bill.
JUI-F Senator Kamran Murtaza said on the floor of the House that the bill would be an insult to all parties.
“This bill will affect fundamental rights,” he maintained, adding: “I don’t know about my party, but I can’t support this bill.”
He lamented that the government did not even take its allies into confidence over the bill.
Another JUI-F senator, Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, said the allied parties wouldn’t know what would happen to them tomorrow.
“The JUI opposes this bill,” he remarked, adding that if the bill was approved, they would stage a walkout.
The Jamaat-e-Islami also opposed the bill. Senator Mushtaq Ahmed said the bill was not only against the PTI but all political parties.
He called the bill the last nail in the coffin of democracy. “The government did not even take its allies into confidence,” he maintained.
The JI leader said, “This bill will become a noose around every political party tomorrow.”
Senator Tahir Bizinjo said the bill was an attack on democracy, adding that whoever talks about the supremacy of the Constitution will be the first target.
He then said he would stage a token walkout if the bill was approved.
Dr Humayun Mohmand of the PTI claimed the bill was aimed at barring his party from contesting elections. He demanded the bill be sent to the concerned committee first.
PML-N’s Senator Irfan Siddiqui also opposed the bill, saying it imposes bans on everyone, including politicians.
“If the law is passed as it is, it will prove to be a big problem,” he remarked, adding that it has not even been presented in the National Assembly yet.
PPP’s Sherry Rehman said it was agreed to convene the session in the presence of parliamentary leaders, adding that if the bills go to standing committees, they will lapse.
The term of the National Assembly is brief now, and the bills passed there have to be approved.
Sherry Rehman said the Senate has an option to amend the law later.
Earlier, the PML-N’s Minister of State Shahadat Awan tabled the Prevention of Violent Extremism Bill 2023. The opposition demanded it be sent to the committee first.
