ISLAMABAD, Oct 8: The government introduced a draft bill in the National Assembly on Friday aimed at allowing President Gen Pervez Musharraf to retain his army post till his tenure in presidency.
The draft bill was referred to the house committee on law and justice which is expected to meet on Saturday to approve it.
The bill 'President to Hold Another Office Act, 2004' seeking to take effect from Dec 31, 2004, will be tabled at the NA session on Monday or Tuesday for its first, second and third readings before its passage by a simple majority.
The opposition which had created noisy scenes on being disallowed a debate on its adjournment motions on bomb blasts in Sialkot and Multan, showed a poor reaction when the draft bill was introduced by Law and Justice Minister Wasi Zafar. There was no visible protest except for few meek voices of 'shame shame'.
According to the draft bill, "the holder of office of president of Pakistan may, in addition to his office, hold another office of profit in the service of Pakistan which will not disqualify its holder as provided under paragraph (d) of clause (1) of the constitution or any other law for the time being in force, provided that this provision shall be valid only for the present holder of the office of president."
The opposition despite its objection to bringing a separate motion by the government on the Sialkot and Multan bomb blasts instead of allowing its adjournment motions on the issue later took part in the debate in a smooth manner, without mentioning the introduction of the bill on the uniform issue.
Meanwhile, Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed introduced the Cross Media Law of the Pakistan Electronic Regulatory Authority which was also referred to the concerned house committee.
Earlier, the government scored a victory against the fragmented opposition when it disallowed all its adjournment motions and moved its own motion on the bomb blasts.
Tabling the motion, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sher Afgan Khan Niazi argued that law and order was a provincial subject and therefore it cannot be discussed in the house on the opposition's adjournment motions. He said the government itself was tabling the motion to allow both sides of the divide to discuss the matter.
The house was assured by the Water and Power Minister Liaquat Jatoi that there would be no load shedding in the country during winter. He said the IPPs would be producing more electricity to meet the shortage of hydel power to be caused by scarcity of water.
Mr Jatoi, giving a policy statement on a call attention notice, said that action would be taken against those Wapda officials who had issued the load-shedding schedule without seeking his approval.
The house witnessed pandemonium when the opposition tried to raise its voice against the killing of innocent people in the two Punjab cities. It was, however, advised by the chair not to press for admission of its adjournment motions and rather take part in the debate on the motion introduced by the parliamentary affairs minister.
The opposition members continued to protest by standing in their seats for quite some time but failed to convince the chair to allow their adjournment motions. Liaquat Baloch of the MMA referred to various sections of rules of procedure and conduct of business but could not convince the chair to admit the opposition's adjournment motions.
Taking part in the debate, PML-N leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said the government was shy to let the opposition discuss the most condemnable acts of terrorism in which dozens of people were killed and about 300 injured.
Tehrik-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan called for a shift in Islamabad's policy on war on terrorism. He alleged that the government was following in the footsteps of US President George Bush who was unleashing terrorism on Muslims of Iraq and elsewhere in the name of war on terror.
He said both the president and the prime minister had escaped attempts on their lives owing to 'blindly' following the US diktats. Leader of the opposition Maulana Fazlur Rehman argued that the acts of terrorism should be discussed on opposition's adjournment motions since it pertained to a specific incident.
MMA chief Qazi Hussain Ahmed condemned a ban on religious gatherings which, he alleged, indicated that the government was itself involved in terrorist incidents. Hafiz Hussain Ahmed described the ban as a failure of the government to provide security to people.
The information minister said that the Multan administration had been alerted before the religious gathering was organized yet, he added, no adequate security arrangements were made to avert the bomb blast.
He said the prime minister had asked the interior minister to consult the opposition leaders on the situation and take them into confidence. The house was adjourned till 6pm on Monday when the debate on the motion would be resumed.
