The PML-N and the PPP on Saturday rejected the impression that the 27th Constitutional Amendment was rushed through without proper debate, saying the draft has undergone “extensive scrutiny”.
Speaking on Geo News programme Naya Pakistan, Minister of State for Law and Justice Barrister Aqeel Malik said there was “no urgency” in convening the cabinet meeting even though the Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif attended the session virtually from Baku, Azerbaijan.
Earlier today, after getting approval from the federal cabinet, the bill for the 27th Constitutional Amendment was tabled before the Senate and subsequently referred to the standing committees on law and justice.
Malik said there was “a lot of discussion” about the proposed constitutional amendment, adding that deliberations were continuing within party committees and that it was the parliamentarians’ right to propose amendments.
He maintained that a “wrong impression” had been created that the process was being hurried.
When informed by the show’s host that the 18th Amendment was passed after over a year of consultations and the 26th Amendment was debated for more than a month, while the proposed 27th Amendment appeared to have moved from draft to agreement in less than a week, with PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari receiving the draft on Monday, holding a Central Executive Committee (CEC) meeting, and reaching consensus shortly after, Malik acknowledged the unusually rapid pace of the process.
In response, PPP’s Nadeem Afzal Chan credited his party, highlighting that five to six sessions were held during the two-day CEC, with every member participating in a detailed and open discussion on issues ranging from Article 243 to dual nationality.
“If law-making is done in a hurry, the public becomes suspicious for no reason,” Chan said.
When asked about revision in the NFC formula, PPP’s Chan said that the federation grants tax exemptions worth Rs300 billion and oversees around 25 departments that do not even conduct audits.
“You cannot fix your own tax system and then say you’ll take money from the provinces,” he said.
More to follow
