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| 16 March 2004 | Tuesday | 24 Muharram 1425 |
MMA urges govt to revise NSC bill
ISLAMABAD, March 15: The government has reportedly sought the cooperation of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal for the passage of the National Security Council bill during the current session of National Assembly, MMA sources told Dawn on Monday.
The draft bill was not tabled in the house on Monday as planned, sources said. An MMA leader said the alliance would try to help the government overcome the crisis that seemed to have emerged due to the Muttahida Qaumi Movement's unwillingness to accept the bill in its present shape.
The MQM continued to remain away from the assembly proceedings on Monday, ostensibly to press the government to come to terms with it and allay its reservations about the bill.
An MQM leader, however, said the party had only 'minor' reservations against the proposed NSC act and expressed his optimism that the matter would be resolved amicably. He said the government was running smoothly and all of its coalition partners were being treated equally.
"We are busy with our party's organizational matters in Karachi, which may take three to four days before we return to the federal capital and take part in the National Assembly proceedings," an MQM leader told Dawn. He said all of the MQM's MNAs were engaged in party activities.
Asked if the government had contacted the party about the NSC bill, he said: "We are in continuous contact with the government." The MMA, according to sources, has rejected the draft NSC bill and said it has been tampered with by the legal team of President Gen Pervez Musharraf.
It has asked the government to revise the bill and make it acceptable to the alliance. Sources said the government had assured the MMA that the draft bill would be revised.
The MMA, according to its deputy parliamentary leader Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, had never committed to help the government in the passage of the bill but it had some moral obligations as it had accepted it as an act of parliament.
MMA leaders say the draft NSC bill approved by the cabinet was tampered with by adding some functions of the council which were not mentioned during the talks over the Legal Framework Order.
The functions include the NSC's role in the so-called crisis management, overseeing of the democracy and inter-provincial harmony. The MMA has also raised an objection against empowering the president to nominate anyone from the bureaucracy as an NSC member.
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