ISLAMABAD: The government with a two-thirds majority faced another day of embarrassment when it failed for a third time on Monday to get the controversial inquiry commissions bill passed from the National Assembly due to lack of quorum after the opposition’s boycott of the house proceedings in protest.

After twice facing embarrassment because of its failure to get the Pakistan Commissions of Inquiry Bill 2016 passed due to lack of quorum, the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz had initially managed to bring the minimum required number of its members to the house. But the opposition played its cards very intelligently, and instead of staging a walkout, it dragged the debate, thus making it difficult for the ministers to make members of their party continue sitting in the house.

The opposition members staged the walkout as soon as they were informed by Shagufta Jumani of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), who had been assigned the task of keeping on counting the treasury members, that the house lacked quorum. When Speaker Ayaz Sadiq gave the floor to Law Minister Zahid Hamid to put the motion before the house for a final vote count, Ms Jumani pointed out the lack of quorum, forcing the speaker to adjourn the sitting till Tuesday morning (today).

As soon as the speaker announced adjournment, the visibly disappointed law minister left the house carrying his books and files without talking to any of his colleagues.

The opposition had earlier foiled the government’s plan to get the bill passed from the assembly on Thursday when it pointed out lack of quorum after announcing boycott of the proceedings.

On Friday, the bill was again on the agenda, but it was not moved by the minister apparently after realising that the house still lacked quorum and the opposition could take advantage of the situation.

The speaker allowed the opposition members to speak on the bill after getting its clause-by-clause approval through a voice vote.

The opposition members, mainly from the PPP, accused the government of bringing the bill in an effort to save Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and other members of his family, currently facing an inquiry before the Supreme Court in connection with Panamagate.

Opposing the bill, PPP’s parliamentary leader in the assembly Syed Naveed Qamar said the government had introduced the bill after the Supreme Court rejected its request to constitute an inquiry commission on Panamagate under the existing act of 1956 declaring it toothless and powerless. He claimed that there was not much difference in the existing and the proposed laws and the government was bringing the old law with a new name.

“This is an exercise in futility. This bill will be rejected by the Senate,” Mr Qamar said, knowing that the opposition parties have majority in the upper house of the parliament.

Sher Akbar Khan of the Jamaat-i-Islami said that the government should not move the legislation as it could affect the ongoing proceedings in the Supreme Court in the Panama Papers case.

The PPP’s Nafeesa Shah in her hard-hitting speech termed it a “family-specific law” and said that it was being brought only to save the prime minister and his family from the Panamagate scam.

“The government has invented the bill and similarly it has invented the letter of a Qatari prince,” she remarked in an apparent reference to the government’s move to present a letter of a Qatari prince, stating that he had gifted the London flats to the members of the Sharif family.

“You are replacing a toothless law with another such law,” she said and asked the government to consider the opposition’s bill on Panamagate which it had submitted in the Senate. She warned the government of more sit-ins and protests if it insisted on getting the bill passed from the National Assembly.

Responding to the opposition members’ speeches, Law Minister Zahid Hamid said that the new law would replace the 60-year old act, which the Supreme Court had declared “toothless.”

The minister dispelled the impression that the bill was being tabled to save the prime minister and his family. Instead, he said, there was a possibility that the law might not be used in the Panamagate inquiry as the apex court had already taken up the matter under Article 184 of the Constitution.

On the other hand, the minister termed the opposition’s bill “blatantly discriminatory” which targeted the prime minister despite the fact that his name was not even mentioned in the Panama Papers Leaks.

Through the proposed law, he said, the government had strengthened inquiry commissions which could be formed on any issue in future. He said that the publishing of the inquiry report under the new law had been made mandatory.

Under the proposed law, he said, the commission would have the powers to form international teams and seek cooperation from foreign countries or agencies to get information, documents, evidence and record or issue letters in accordance with applicable international instruments.

Earlier, the opposition members staged a token walkout to protest over the government’s move to seek extension of two ordinances — the Income Tax (Amendment) Ordinance 2016 and the Tax Laws (Amendment) Ordinance 2016 — for another 120 days.

Published in Dawn, November 29th, 2016