ISLAMABAD: The country’s major opposition parties have slammed the government for convening a fresh National Assembly session only for seeking extension in the period of ordinances despite the fact that the Senate is already in session.

The leaders of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) on Wednesday alleged that the government was “bypassing” the Senate in every matter because the opposition was in a majority in the upper house of parliament.

The agenda issued by the National Assembly Secretariat for Thursday’s sitting shows two resolutions seeking extension to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Authority Ordinance, 2019 and the Tax Laws (Amendment) Ordinance, 2019 for a further period of 120 days.

Besides this, the government will also lay three ordinances, including the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Ordinance 2019, before the assembly, according to the agenda, a copy of which is available with Dawn.

NA session convened for seeking extension in ordinances’ duration

Talking to Dawn, PML-N information secretary Marriyum Aurangzeb said that this was another reinforcement of what her party had been warning all along regarding the “authoritarianism” of this government.

She said that ever since Imran Khan took the oath as the country’s prime minister, every single measure “reeks of autocracy and like every autocrat he is completely removed from the reality of the common man”.

“Over the past 16 months, this government has not passed a single parliamentary legislation that would provide relief to the people. The dictatorial regime only believes in absolute self-righteous unilateral power of ordinances which bypass the parliamentary debate and legislative process,” she said.

The ordinances on the agenda, she said, also exposed the misplaced priorities of this “ordinance-savvy government” where at a time of “unprecedented inflation, economic crisis, wheat and sugar crisis, Imran Khan and his government went at a complete tangent to the real issues of the people”.

Ms Aurangzeb, who had served as the information minister in the previous PML-N government, said that “from gagging media, activism and persecution of opposition leaders to practically shutting down the business of parliament itself, this government is light-years away from being a representation of a public driven democracy”.

Talking to Dawn, PPP Senator and former Senate chairman Raza Rabbani termed the government’s move to lay the ordinances and present resolution for extension in the period of ordinances before the National Assembly a “breach of the privilege” of the upper house of parliament.

Mr Rabbani justified the laying of ordinances related to tax laws in the National Assembly, saying the Senate under the Constitution could not vote on money bills, but questioned the other ordinances which, according to him, should have been brought before the Senate as it was already in session.

He was of the view that especially for the CPEC Authority Ordinance, the Senate was the most appropriate forum as the issue was related to the provinces and the Senate represented the federation. He alleged that the government was using the National Assembly as a “rubber stamp”.

But a spokesman for National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser refuted the opposition’s allegations and claimed that the government had convened a “regular session” of the assembly in the wake of upcoming Kashmir Day, falling on Feb 5.

He said the house had been called to discuss the situation in Kashmir and for passage of a resolution in connection with the Kashmir Day to express solidarity with the oppressed people of occupied Kashmir.

According to the NA agenda, Minister for Planning and Development Asad Omer will move the resolution that the National Assembly resolves to extend the CPEC Authority Ordinance, 2019 (XII of 2019) for a further period of 120 days with effect from February 2, under Article 89(2) of the Constitution.

A calling attention notice on the issue of “difficulties being faced by Pakistani students in China due to coronavirus” is also part of the agenda.

When contacted, Planning and Development Minister Asad Umer said the opposition was unnecessary making a hue and cry as there was no provision in the Constitution which put any kind of restriction on the government from presenting a resolution for extension in the period of ordinances before any house of parliament.

“It is the government’s prerogative to bring the resolution to any of the two houses of parliament,” Mr Umer said.

He said the Cons­titution only provided that a new ordinance could not be promulgated if any of the two houses was in session. Moreover, he further said the allegation that the government had convened the session only for the ordinances was based on hypothesis.

Published in Dawn, January 30th, 2020