- The government proposes to give additional powers to the interim setup.
- The bill will be introduced in the joint session of Parliament tomorrow (Wednesday).
- The proposed amendments were finalized in consultation with political parties.
Islamabad: The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)-led federal government has proposed 54 amendments to the Elections Act 2017 to empower the caretaker government and ensure transparency in the electoral process, it emerged on Tuesday.
Under the amendments, the federal government has proposed to give additional powers to the interim setup to take important decisions related to the country’s economy.
In addition, the proposed legislation seeks to empower the caretaker government to engage with or sign agreements with international institutions.
sources told geo news That the bill be introduced in the joint session of Parliament tomorrow (Wednesday).
The development comes amid speculation that the ruling PML-N is trying to build a consensus among coalition partners on the name of Finance Minister Ishaq Dar for caretaker prime minister.
In an interview with a local TV channel, Dar said that the Election Act, 2017 would be amended to enable the interim ruler to take important decisions.
When Dar was asked whether section 230 of the election law would be amended – he replied in the affirmative and said that the country cannot be handed over to a government for day-to-day decisions.
He further said that there is no need to hide the matter from the people as they will find out anyway.
In addition, he added: “…but I think that whoever takes this responsibility, it would not be fair for the country to spend three months on everyday decisions.”
Addressing a joint session of Parliament today, Law Minister Azam Nazir Tarar said that the proposed amendments to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) Bill have been finalized in consultation with all political parties to ensure transparency in the electoral process.
On the uproar in the House, he said that the Election Act 2017 has been prepared with great effort.
He said the presiding officer would withhold the election results for two or three days, raising questions about the transparency of the election.
Tarar also said that all pending bills should be passed by the legislature as the National Assembly is completing its constitutional term on August 12.
He also rejected the notion that the government is secretly amending the Election Act.
The federal minister told the joint meeting that a special committee representing various political parties under the leadership of Sardar Ayaz Sadiq held several meetings to deliberate on the amendments in depth.
He said that members including Syed Naveed Qamar, Dr. Fahmida Mirza, Chaudhary Tariq Bashir Cheema, Syed Amin-ul-Haq, Muhammad Afzal Khan Dhandla, Agha Hasan Baloch, Shaja Fatima Khawaja, Senator Taj Haider, Senator Kamran Murtaza, Senator Manzoor Ahmed and Senator Syed Ali Zafar actively participated in the discussion.
The Law Minister said that the Bill was examined clause by clause by the members of the Committee, whose written submissions were incorporated in the final report.
Tarar insisted that all the amendments were drafted unanimously, which reflected the harmonious approach of all political parties.
