ISLAMABAD: The Senate saw government go on the defensive on Friday after the main opposition Pakistan People’s Party objected to a proposed amendment bill and described it as an attempt by the centre “to enslave the provinces”.

Minister of State for National Health Services Saira Afzal Tarar, who sought to move the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (Amendment) Bill, had to seek its deferment out of fear of an adverse ruling by the Senate chairman.

The opposition members mainly objected to the powers proposed to be given under the bill to the federal government to give directions to the provinces in policy matters.

Senator Karim Khawaja of the PPP was the first to oppose the bill, accusing the centre of meddling in the affairs of provinces. He said that under the Constitution matters relating to regulatory bodies fell under the purview of the Council of Common Interests (CCI).

He said the bill should be referred to the CCI.

Aijaz Dhamra termed the proposed bill “illegal” and alleged that the government had lobbied to get it approved.

Govt on defensive in Senate as it sought deferment of the bill out of fear of an adverse ruling by the chairman

Leader of Opposition in the House Aitzaz Ahsan said the provinces would face problems if the bill was passed, as this would be tantamount to taking away their autonomy.

He said adopting the bill would be against the spirit of Articles 153 and 154 of the Constitution. The two articles describe composition, functions and rules of the CCI.

The PPP leader regretted that the federal government was taking steps aimed at “enslaving the provinces”. No committee, house or minister, he said, could take away the constitutional rights of the provinces.

Mr Ahsan said Section 3B of the proposed bill was aimed at “chopping off hands of the provinces”. It proposed to give powers to the centre to give instructions to the provinces from time to time, which would be binding in nature.

He said the provinces had been given powers under the 18th amendment after a lot of hard work. “How can we take away these powers?”

Praising Chairman Raza Rabbani for giving bold rulings in the past, he sought a ruling on this constitutional issue as well. He added the bill should be brought to the house only after a decision on it by the CCI.

In what appeared to be an indirect allegation, Ms Tarar said if she had accepted a demand, the opposition would not have insisted on referring the bill to the CCI.

The minister, after failing to respond to the legal issues raised by the opposition, requested the chairman not to give any ruling and defer the bill.

Mr Rabbani observed that bringing an issue to the house and deferring it was the government’s prerogative and ordered the deferment of the bill.

The house passed four bills — the Offences in Respect of Banks (Special Courts) (Amendment) Bill; the Equity Participation Fund (Repeal) Bill; the Banks Nationalisation (Amendment) Bill; and the National University of Science and Technology (Amendment) Bill.

Four other bills — the Islamabad Capital Territory Local Government (Amendment) Bill, 2016; the Financial Institutions (Recovery of Finances) (Amendment) Bill, 2016; the Deposit Protection Corporation Bill, 2016; and the Financial Institutions (Secured Transactions) Bill, 2016 — were introduced in the house and referred to the relevant committees.

The chairman admitted an adjournment motion to discuss the poor performance of national cricket team in the recent Twenty20 World Cup and mismanagement of affairs at the Pakistan Cricket Board.

With no lawmaker ready to speak on the issue, an adjournment motion about the recent sit-in at D-Chowk in Islamabad was disposed of.

The house also passed a motion to adopt recommendations about the Money Bill to provide for salary, allowances and privileges of members of the Election Commission of Pakistan.

Published in Dawn, April 23rd, 2016