17 July 2004	Saturday	28 Jamadi-ul-Awwal 1425

ISLAMABAD, July 16: The government on Friday tabled in the National Assembly a bill aimed at enabling politicians to hold government and party offices simultaneously.

The bill was presented after suspending rules, a move criticized by the opposition which walked out in protest.

The bill seeks to amend the Political Parties Order (PPO), 2002, that bars holders of public offices from holding offices in a political party, in line with a promise made by Prime Minister Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain after his election to the office by the assembly.

Called the Political Parties (Amendment) Bill, it was moved by Petroleum and Natural Resources Minister Chaudhry Nourez Shakoor amid noisy protests and slogans of 'shame, shame' by the opposition, followed by a token walkout. The opposition called for omitting the restrictive article of the PPO.

Soon after the question-hour was over, Mr Shakoor sought permission of the house to suspend the rules so that he could move a bill on the private members' day. After a favourable voice vote, Speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain suspended the rules under which the government could not introduce any bill on a private members' day, and allowed the minister to table the amendment bill.

Opposition members belonging to the ARD and the MMA protested against the move and staged a token walkout. The bill, moved in the absence of the opposition, was later referred to the National Assembly Committee on Law and Parliamentary Affairs.

A statement of objectives and reasons accompanying the bill said that the restriction placed by article 9 of the PPO 2002 on the holders of elected public offices to hold any office in a political party was "creating a problem and complications for the smooth working of the political parties and in strengthening the democratic process.

It is, therefore, expedient in the public interest to remove this restriction." Allowed by the speaker to speak on points of order after their return to the house, opposition members started criticizing the government for re-promulgating a contempt of court ordinance on Thursday instead of bringing an amendment bill.

People's Party Parliamentarians' Syed Naveed Qamar regretted that the ordinance was re-promulgated on Thursday despite the fact that the National Assembly had already been summoned.

Mr Qamar said that after a Supreme Court decision, the practice of re-promulgation of ordinances had been discontinued in 1996. The Supreme Court had clearly stated that no ordinance could be promulgated when the assembly was in session, he said. "You are a lawyer and you must understand it better," he said to the speaker.

The PPP MNA also criticized the government for not appointing a law minister. "Perhaps the government does not want to have a law minister as Afghanistan does not need a naval chief as there is no sea in the country," the PPP MNA said.

Mr Shakoor did not respond to the objections raised by Mr Qamar when he was given the floor. When the speaker asked him to give a reply in the light of article 89 of the constitution, the minister simply started reading the same article, drawing laughter from members, including some from the treasury benches.

Dr Sher Afgan and M.P. Bhindara from the treasury benches came to the minister's rescue and defended the decision to re-promulgate the ordinance. They said the re-promulgation was necessary to avoid a vacuum.

Mr Bhindara, however, said there was some "weight in the arguments of Mr Qamar" and invited the PPP member to attend the meeting of the standing committee concerned to sort out the issue.

Former deputy speaker and PPP MNA Zafar Ali Shah said that article 89 was very clear and the government should respect the court decision. He said it was a matter of concern that the government could not bring the ordinance to parliament and it had to be re-promulgated.

Mr Shah asked the speaker to make an announcement that in future no ordinance would be allowed to be re-promulgated. Liaquat Baloch suggested that the house should disapprove the re-promulgation of the ordinance, and criticized the government for presenting its own bill on a private members' day.

The speaker adjourned the house until 10am on Monday when Chaudhry Aitezaz Ahsan tried to seek time to speak after the Maghreb prayer break although a 51-point agenda was set for the sitting.

Political sources said some PML members had expressed their displeasure at plans to bulldoze the bill, during a parliamentary meeting held before the start of the session.