Naseebullah Khan
The incumbent government of the PTI has accomplished a milestone in the parliamentary history of Pakistan by passing 33 bills including the controversial EVMs bill in a single day in a span of less the one hour by bulldozing the fundamentals of democratic norms. In a country with a multi-party system and heterogeneous nature, stubbornness does not work rather flexibility has always been a suitable modus operandi for unification. Some of the bills which were very important like bills related to the sentence Kulbhoshan Jadheve, EVMs, criminal investigation amendment, anti-rape investigation, and trial, etc. were approved hurriedly without debate in the presence of negative behavior of the Speaker. The helter-skelter legislation has made the parliament a laughingstock and reflected the authoritarian governance. Article 70 of the constitution which is related to the introduction and passing of Bills says: 1.A Bill with respect to any matter in the Federal Legislative List may originate in either House and shall if it is passed by the House in which it originated, be transmitted to the other House; and, if the Bill is passed without amendment by the other House also, it shall be presented to the President for assent. 2. If a Bill transmitted to a House under clause (1) is passed with amendments it shall be sent back to the House in which it originated and if that House passes the Bill with those amendments it shall be presented to the President for assent. 3. If a Bill transmitted to a House under clause (1) is rejected or is not passed within ninety days of its laying in the House or a Bill sent to a House under clause (2) with amendments is not passed by that House with such amendments, the Bill, at the request of the House in which it originated, shall be considered in a joint sitting and if passed by the votes of the majority of the members present and voting in the joint sitting it shall be presented to the President for assent. The procedure which was adopted yesterday by bulldozing the rules and procedures was against the parliamentary rules and regulations. This legislation has weakened parliament and defaced the hypothetic faces of the so-called Pseudo democrats. At a juncture, when democracy is facing huge shocks of destabilization, the present law-making process is a signal of alarm for the further of politics in the country, by setting a meaningless example.
