ISLAMABAD, Nov 18: The Senate is to take up the Women’s Protection Bill seeking changes in controversial Hudood laws in its 33rd session starting from Tuesday and, according to a minister, the bill that has been passed by the National Assembly is expected to be passed by the upper house by November 24.
President Gen Pervez Musharraf has summoned the Senate to meet on Tuesday (November 21) at the Parliament House at 5pm, says a hand-handout issued by the Senate secretariat on Saturday.
Federal Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Dr Sher Afgan told Dawn that he had sent the bill to the Senate secretariat with a request to put it on the agenda of Tuesday’s session. He expressed the hope that the bill would be passed by the upper house by November 24.
Answering a question, Dr Afgan said there was no need for sending the bill to the Senate’s standing committee and it would be approved by the senators after an in-house debate.
The minister said the forthcoming Senate session would continue till November 29. He said the 33rd session would be prorogued on November 28 and the Senate chairman would summon another session on November 29 on the requisition of the opposition members.
The combined opposition has already requisitioned a session to discuss the Bajaur and Dargai incidents, in which 125 people, including 42 army recruits, were killed in an air strike on a
madressah and an apparently retaliatory suicide attack on a military installation.
Opposition leader in the Senate Raza Rabbani, when contacted, criticized the government for summoning a Senate session before the opposition- requisitioned session. He said according to the parliamentary calendar, no session of the Senate was scheduled in November therefore the opposition had to requisition the session.
Mr Rabbani said the opposition would press the Senate chairman to allow a debate on the incidents of Bajaur and Dargai when the upper house met on Tuesday. He expressed the hope that the Senate chairman and saner elements in the government would agree to hold discussion on the Bajaur and Dargai incidents in the forthcoming session.
PRIVILEGE MOTION: Meanwhile, Awami National Party Senator Asfandyar Wali has submitted a privilege motion to the Senate secretariat on the use of force by law-enforcement agencies personnel to stop him and other party workers from entering Bajaur Agency few days ago.
In the motion, the ANP senator said that he with some party members wanted to go to Bajaur to express solidarity with the families of those killed in the attack on a madressah on October 30. He said the political agency administration did not allow them to enter Bajaur agency and resorted to baton-charge and tear-gas shelling.
