Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) legislators in the upper house of the parliament on Friday forced the government to defer the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (Amendment) Bill, 2016 on legal grounds and termed it against the spirit of the provincial autonomy.

When Minister of State for National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination Saira Afzal Tarar presented the amendment bill, PPP Senator Karim Ahmed Khawaja opposed it. He said it should be referred to the Council of Common Interests (CCI). The bill was against the spirit of the 18th Constitutional Amendment, he said. “We strongly oppose the bill. It is tantamount to damaging the 18th Constitutional Amendment,” he said.

The Awami National Party (ANP) and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) were in support of the amendment bill. Senate Standing Committee on National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination Chairman Sajjad Turi was of the view that PPP Senator Farhatullah Babar’s recommendations were incorporated in the bill and the committee had thoroughly discussed the bill. As the ordinance is going to lapse on April 25, the government is in a hurry to get it passed.

PPP Senator Saleem Mandviwalla was of the view that a lot of lobbying was being done for this amendment bill, but legally it should come through the CCI. PPP Senator Taj Haider said the amendment bill reflected the dictatorship on part of the federal government. PTI leader Azam Swati and ANP leader Shahi Syed supported the bill.

Speaking on the occasion, opposition leader in Senate Aitzaz Ahsan said there were some proposals in the bill where autonomy of the provinces was taken over by the federal government. It is totally against the Article 154 and it revealed that the federal government would give policy directions from time to time. He said the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) should finalise the bill. If this was the case then where was the provincial autonomy? Ahsan asked. According to the rules, the PMDC matter should come through the CCI and not through the federal cabinet or the parliament.

Tarar said the PMDC bill was passed in 2012 without the approval of the CCI. Later, Federal Law Minister Zahid Hamid requested Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani to defer the bill and take it up at the next session of the Senate.

The Senate chairman said the government requested deferment of the bill and it was prerogative of the government to demand so. In the light of the request, the amendment bill was deferred till next session of the Senate, Rabbani said.

The Senate passed a resolution with majority vote recommending the government to take necessary steps to empower the elected representative body of the Islamabad Capital Territory to elect its representatives to the Senate of Pakistan like the elected representative bodies of other federating units to reflect the true spirit of federalism.

Senator Mohsin Leghari moved the resolution. Interestingly, all opposition senators and some members of the ruling party supported the bill. Counting showed that 24 members of the Senate supported the resolution, while 11 opposed it.

The House passed four bills — the Offences in Respect of Banks (Special Courts) (Amendment) Bill, 2016; the Equity Participation Fund (Repeal) Bill, 2016; the Banks (Nationalisation) (Amendment) Bill, 2016 and the National University of Sciences and Technology (Amendment) Bill, 2016.

Four bills – the Islamabad Capital Territory Local Government (Amendment) Bill, 2016; the Financial Institutions (Recovery of Finances) (Amendment) Bill, 2016; the Deposit Protection Corporation Bill, 2016 and the Financial Institutions (Secured Transactions) Bill, 2016 – were introduced in the House and then referred to the relevant committees for further deliberations.