ISLAMABAD, July 20: The Senate on Tuesday began a general debate on a bill seeking amendment to the Political Parties Order 2002 after chairman Mohammedmian Soomro rejected several objections raised by opposition members in an effort to block the introduction of the legislation.

Federal Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Chaudhry Noraiz Shakoor introduced the bill as transmitted to the upper house by the National Assembly, which passed in on Monday.

Parliamentary leader of the People's Party Parliamentarians Senator Raza Rabbani opposed the bill saying that the PPO 2002 had been included in Schedule 6 of the Constitution through the 17th amendment passed in December 2003.

He said it had been given in the constitution that laws mentioned in the Schedule 6 could not be amended without the prior permission of the president. He asked the chairman to direct the secretariat staff to circulate the communication containing permission of the president so that the bill could be taken up on Wednesday.

Leader of house Wasim Sajjad said it was a very healthy and happy development that Mr Rabbani had recognized the powers of the president and accepted the 17th amendment made in the constitution.

He said the bill had been transmitted by the National Assembly and the consent and permission of the president had been obtained before its introduction in the lower house. "All requirements of the bill had been fulfilled", he added.

He said the bill had not been originated in the Senate and was being moved under Rule 108, and, therefore, the rule 84(2) was not applicable to it. PPP Senator Farhatullah Khan Babar, speaking on a point of order, objected to the bill not being introduced by Minister of State Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs Mohammad Raza Hayat Hiraj as stated in the order of the day.

The chairman rejected the objection stating that any minister could introduce a bill as it was part of the cabinet's responsibility. Pakistan Muslim League-N parliamentary leader Ishaq Dar demanded that the bill be referred to the concerned house standing committee under Rule 111 of the rules of procedure rather than bulldozing it.

"What is the hurry (in getting this bill passed)?" he said. His objection, too, was rejected by treasury benches by a voice vote. Sanaullah Baloch of the Balochistan National Party (Mengal group) wanted the bill to be circulated for obtaining public opinion about the move that would allow the president to hold a party office.

Mr Baloch accused the government of changing laws only to facilitate one or two persons and said the general public should be asked whether they were ready to see the president holding a party office.

The move was also rejected by treasury members by a voice vote. Prof Ibrahim of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal requested the house to refer the bill to the Council of Islamic Ideology to seek its point of view.

When the question was put for voting, only 23 members supported it against a minimum requirement of 40 members. After rejection of all objections raised by the opposition, the Senate started a general discussion on the bill.

Senator Rabbani described the move to amend a law to suit political convenience as a dangerous trend and said all orders issued by the military government had been amended by the government itself. He gave examples of National Security Council Order 2001, the Referendum Order 2002, the Conduct of General Elections 2002, the LFO 2002, and the NAB Ordinance.

"Parliament is being asked to give protection to acts of a few individuals like Rao Sikandar Iqbal, Aftab Sherpao, Faisal Saleh Hayat, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi and Arbab Ghulam Rahim. In other words, this is a six-person specific act," he said.

He said the PPO was originally promulgated only to keep former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif out of the national politics but the government was now snared in its own trap.

Senators Ishaq Dar of the PML-N, PML's Chaudhry Mohammad Anwar Bhinder and Khalid Ranjha and MMA's Prof Ghafoor Ahmed also spoke on the bill before the house was adjourned till Wednesday.