ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly (NA) on Tuesday rejected with 163 to 98 votes a motion tabled in the House concerning disqualified lawmakers who lead political parties. The bill was earlier tabled in Senate and was adopted with 49 votes in favour and 18 votes against it. In parliament, Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq announced that 163 parliamentarians voted to reject the Elections (Amendment) Bill, 2017, whereas 98 lawmakers voted for the bill. The Elections (Amendment) Bill, 2017, was put forth by Naveed Qamar of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP). He said that a lawmaker who was barred from attending sessions of the National Assembly by the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP) could not lead a political party, as it was against articles 62 and 63 of the constitution. Qamar said that person-specific amendments to the constitution damaged the system of the country. “An executive that is not allowed to attend proceedings of parliament should not be permitted to lead a political party,” he said. “Democracy should mean rule of law, it should mean that we respect the institutions [and], we follow the constitution,” Qamar added. PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi took the microphone after Qamar presented the bill and said, “The law minister has every right to oppose the bill. This amendment was passed by the joint opposition in the Senate. This motion has been moved by joint opposition collectively and members should be allowed to present a counter argument before the bill is put to vote.” “Please, can we understand what is being discussed?” Qureshi added. He said that there was a rationale behind the law that bars disqualified politicians from leading political fronts. He urged the participants to pay heed and understand the rationale behind the law and vote to have the amendment passed. “In a parliamentary democracy, leader of a political party regulates and controls the policy,” Qureshi added, saying that in the current setup, a disqualified premier was aiding formation of policies, which was against the spirit of the constitution. “Parliamentary parties and parliament are equally valuable components of a parliamentary democracy.” Shah accused the members belonging to the PML-N of following an agenda of protecting one person and not making decisions for the bigger cause of progress of Pakistan. “Our constitution believes in trichotomy of powers; judicial branch, the parliamentary branch and the legislators.” Law Minister Zahid Hamid said that disqualification clauses of Section 5 were laid in Political Parties Act, 1962, during tenure of a dictator and were expunged by the democratic government of PPP founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in 1975. “The clause 203 was re-added to the act in the years that followed. The clause was also restored in the Political Parties (Amendment) Act 2002,” he said. Hamid said that a parliamentary committee was formed in 2014 to recommended electoral reforms to be merged in one law. He said that he did not want to embarrass any lawmaker, but on November 17, 2014, a meeting omitted the said clause and the participants were Farooq Ahmed Naek, Naveed Qamar, Shazia Marri, Naeema Kishwer and Anusha Rehman Khan, among others. Before the bill was tabled, Qureshi said that it was a sight to see as the session never had as many members present in sessions convened in the recent past. Qureshi criticised the ruling party, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), by rhetorically asking what made its members attend the session on Tuesday, as they were habitual of skipping NA meetings for required legislation. Published in Daily Times, November 22nd 2017.