The meeting of opposition parties’ steering committee, which was due to be held this week, could not be held so far due to differences between the parties over challenging the bills passed at the joint session of the parliament in a court of law, reported 24NewsHD TV channel Friday.

Quoting sources, the TV channel reported that President Arif Alvi, on the other hand, continued to sign the bills.   

It is reminded here that the opposition parties had announced that they would go to the courts over what they called ‘controversial’ pieces of legislation. 

Sources disclosed that a three-member team, consisting of Farooq H. Naek, Kamran Murtaza and Azam Nazir Tarar, constituted to prepare legal recommendations, had not done with their task as yet. 

Sources informed that Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) was not only in the favour of approaching the courts over the bills, but also moving no-confidence motions against Prime Minister Imran Khan and the National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser. 

The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government had on November 17 succeeded in railroading the controversial Electoral Amendment Bill, 2021 giving voting rights to millions of overseas Pakistanis and allowing the use of Electronic Voting Machines. 

The government also passed a plethora of bills, including State Bank of Pakistan Banking Services Corporation Amendment Bill, Registration and Regulations of Welfare Institutes Bill, Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhav Bill, National College of Arts Institute Bill, and two bills related to Muslim Family Law. 

The passage of the electoral reforms bill triggered the opposition to tear copies of the agenda and walk out of the joint session in protest.

 

Reporter Gauhar Mehsud