The Senate, under the chairmanship of Mian Raza Rabbani, unanimously passed the Elections Amendment Bill 2017 on Friday, aimed at restoring the clauses pertaining to Khatm-i-Nabuwwat to their original form and make sections relating to the Ahmadi community more effective.
The bill had sailed through the National Assembly a day earlier, and is expected to be signed into law by President Mamnoon Hussain soon.
Sections 7B and 7C of the Conduct of General Elections Order, 2002 were also restored to their original form through the bill.
Section 7B states that the status of Ahmadis remains as stated in the Constitution, whereas Section 7C says that if enrolled voters’ belief in the finality of prophethood of Muhammad (peace be upon him) is contended, they shall have to sign a declaration reaffirming their belief, failing which their “name shall be deleted from the joint electoral rolls and added to a supplementary list of voters in the same electoral area as non-Muslim.”
Speaking on the occasion, Deputy Chairman Senate Abdul Ghafoor Haidri said that this bill has ensured that the matter of the finality of prophethood of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) remains as it is in the 1973 Constitution.
Congratulating the nation on the restoration of the Khatm-i-Nabuwwat clause, Haidri said, "Our belief has been secured once again."
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported that a constitutional amendment pertaining to the fresh delimitation of constituencies was also passed by Senate in its Friday session. The constitutional amendment bill will, in fact, be deliberated on Monday. The error is sincerely regretted.
