After the criticism on amendment in Khatam-e-Naboowat laws and oath, Speaker National Assembly Ayaz Sadiq accepted that there was a clerical mistake and invited parliamentary leaders to discuss the matter today.
While talking to media, Sadiq stated that parliamentary leaders have decided to keep the original affidavit intact. He added that the amendment in new bill will be made and original oath will be brought back. Yesterday, parliamentarians noticed that wordings in Form-A has been changed as the words “I solemnly swear” have been replaced by “I believe” and clause about Khatam-e-Naboowat has not been made applicable to non-Muslim assembly members. Religious parties conducted protest over this amendment and demanded from government to take it back. Furthermore, Federal Law Minister Zahid Hamid denied the allegations yesterday in a press conference.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi added that his party has suggested to revert 203 clause of Election Act 2017 as it is also controversial and being challenged in the courts. Through amendment in clause 203, government paved the way for Nawaz Sharif to become president of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz again. Opposition leader Khurshid Shah said that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement went berserk in the National Assembly against the Nawaz Sharif-specific law to hide their blunder in the Senate last week that saw the surprise passage of the Election Bill 2017 in the Senate. Shah said that the PTI and the MQM were just dramatising the situation after their covert support for the Election Bill 2017 that paved the way for former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to get re-elected as the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chief. Nawaz Sharif was re-elected unopposed as the PML-N President for four years in the intra-party elections. Sharif was removed as the party chief by the Election Commission of Pakistan in July after his disqualification as the premier by the Supreme Court. The National Assembly passed the Election Bill 2017 after its approval in the Senate.
This is very sensitive issue and political parties should not politicize the issue for their political gains. The speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq has taken good step by accepting error in the bill to diffuse the situation. The matter should be resolved on urgent basis because it may fuels widespread public outrage. The investigations should be conducted that this was a clerical error or deliberately changed. The government must avoid bulldozing its legislation without proper deliberations and consultations on sensitive and important issue in future.
