NA body approves bill seeking to stop MPs changing parties

[ad_1]

ISLAMABAD   –  The National Assembly Standing Committee on Parliamentary Affairs Wednesday approved “The Election (Second Amendment) Bill 2024” aimed to expressly provide for that no independent candidate(s) shall exercise his right to join a political party at a subsequent stage after the period specified for the purpose in the Constitution and the law.

The 4th meeting of the Standing Committee on Parliamentary Affairs was held under the chairmanship of Rana Iradat Sharif Khan, MNA, at the Parliament House.

The Minister for Parliamentary Affairs briefed the committee on the proposed amendment in Section 66, Section 106 of the Election Act 2017 XXXIII of 2017 and insertion of Section 104A, of the (Election Act 2017 XXXIII of 2017).

According to the government, the amendment aims to provide clarity in the law according to the true spirit of the Constitution. The Minister said that the bill has been designed to explicitly provide for that no independent candidate shall exercise his right to join a political party at a subsequent stage after the period specified for the purpose in the Constitution and law and that the consent of an independent candidate once given for joining a political party for purpose of clause (6) of Article 51 or clause (3) of Article 106 shall be irrevocable. The Committee in majority recommended that the bill as introduced in the National Assembly may be passed by the Assembly.

The meeting was attended by MNAs Raja Osama Sarwar, Shaikh Aftab Ahmed, Raja Qamar-ul-Islam, Mahmood Bashir Virk, Saad Waseem, Khurram Shahzad Virk, Malik Shah, Naveed Aamir, Nikhat Shakeel Khan, Sahibzada Sibghatullah,  Ali Muhammad, Hameed Hussain and Shahida Begum. Besides Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Azam Nazeer Tarar, Secretary Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, Secretary Election Commission and Additional Secretary Mohammed Israr and joint Secretary Muhammad Aslam from Ministry of Law and Justice and other senior officers of the Ministries and Election Commission  also attended the meeting.

The bill has been proposed after the Supreme Court ruled in favour of the PTI on the issue of reserved seats in the assemblies. The opposition party believes that the government, through this bill, wants to create hurdles in the implementation of the apex court ruling on the seats reserved for women and minorities in the national and the four provincial assemblies.

The bill proposed that the individuals who contested general election as independent candidate cannot change their affidavit at a later stage to declare affiliation with any political party.

“Provided further that an independent candidate shall no, be considered as the candidate of any political party if at later stage he files a statement duly signed and notarised stating that he contested the general elections as a candidate of the political party specified therein,” read the bill.

The bill also proposed that political parties who failed to submit list of the reserved seats within the stipulated time to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) will not be eligible for the reserved seats.

“Provided further that if any political party fails to submit its list for reserved seats within the aforesaid prescribed time period, it shall not be eligible for the quota in the reserved seats at later stage,” the bill stated.

Moreover, it proposed that any candidate will be considered as an independent candidate if they fail to submit declaration for affiliation with a political party before seeking the allotment of an election symbol.

“Provided that if a candidate, before seeking allotment of a prescribed symbol, has not filed a declaration before the returning officer about his affiliation with a particular political party by submitting party certificate from the political party confirming that he is that party’s candidate, he shall be deemed to be considered as an independent candidate and not a candidate of any political party,” the bill read.

“This Act shall come into force at once and shall be deemed to have taken effect on and from the commencement of the Elections Act, 2017,” the bill read.



[ad_2]

Source link

Muhammad Amin
Muhammad Aminhttp://buzznews.ahkutech.com
I am a teacher and a professional blogger with 3 years of experience. In addition to my teaching career, I am also a content writer, dedicated to creating engaging and informative content across various platforms.

Related Articles

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Stay Connected

0FansLike
0FollowersFollow
0SubscribersSubscribe

Latest Articles