AsiaNet-Pakistan Premier Editorial Content and Press Release Distribution Service
Karachi: The Supreme Court has suspended the membership of 28 members of the assemblies as the government has failed to pass the 20th amendment by the deadline of Feb 06.
According to Alfalah Securities Limited, if the 20th amendment is not passed, the court will cancel by-elections as unconstitutional and 28 parliamentarians will be rendered disqualified, as there are over 3,500,000 bogus votes in the old lists. These members were elected at a time when the election commission was not complete, a condition mandatory now for the holding of elections after the passage of 18th Constitutional Amendment for which the 20th amendment is to be passed which is to provide legal cover to the by-elections which may be valid for one time only considering it as a special case. The suspended members also include Finance Minister Senator Abdul Hafeez Sheikh and Petroleum Minister Senator Dr Asim Hussain.
To avert the situation, the government is trying to convince the opposition party Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) to complete the quorum to pass the 20th amendment placing PML-N in a bargaining position. PML-N members boycotted proceedings of the committee, which was to approve the draft bill for tabling it before the parliament when only 7 of its 17 members were in attendance.
On Friday, the government’s team, met leader of the opposition Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan who put forth four conditions to support the amendment. These included:
• Making Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commission fully empowered to ensure next elections free and transparent and making the tenure of members of the Commission five years instead of two years.
• Removal of ambiguity about the formation of caretaker government by substituting the words consultations with consensus.
• Giving powers to the parties to nominate member for women seats in case of a vacancy.
• Handing over of EOBI, Workers Welfare Fund and Shaikh Zaid Hospital to the provincial governments after the devolution of ministries following passage of 18th amendment.
The government’s team accepted three conditions, except the formation of caretaker government. The formation of caretaker government with consensus cannot be made part of the constitution and instead the prime minister would give an assurance on the floor of the National Assembly that the next caretaker government would be formed with the agreement of the leader of the opposition.
However, it is yet to be seen whether the government would be able to pass the 20th amendment or face the consequence of having lesser seats in Senate by the ruling party. Overall, Alfalah Securities Limited feels the factors that lead to discontinuation of the present government would be taken positive by KSE as the current government has not been able to focus on economic issues.