ISLAMABAD - At a time when a fresh winter session of the Upper House of the Parliament would start today, the ruling alliance at the federal level is again determined to get passed the two important constitutional amendments bills in the House.
A source in the Senate Secretariat Tuesday informed that both the constitutional amendment bills, 22nd Constitutional Amendment Bill and 23rd Constitutional Amendment Bill, are on the agenda of the House for the fresh session.
However, the House would not take up its routine agenda on the first day because of the demise of the two senators of the ruing alliance, Senator Salahuddin Dogar and Senator Mir Wali Mohammad Badani. PPP Senator Salahuddin Dogar, a lawmaker hailing from Punjab died after protracted illness the other day while Mir Wali Badani expired due to heart attack.
On the first day of the session, a number of senators across the isle would express their condolences, grief and sympathies over the sad demise of two veteran politicians and lawmakers and pay tributes for their services as politicians. After offering fateha for the deceased senators and brief condolence references, the House would be adjourned for the next day.
The ruling alliance in the last session had failed to get passed the Twenty-Second Constitutional Amendment Bill, 2012 and Twenty-Third Constitutional Amendment Bill, 2012 due to the lack of required two third majority of votes in the Senate despite Law Minister Farooq H Naek’s best efforts to have a nod of the House over these two legislations. The treasury benches were short of only one vote from the required two third majority necessary to get passed a constitutional amendment.
The Twenty-Second Constitutional Amendment Bill allows dual nationality for parliamentarians of the incumbent assemblies and permit persons having dual nationality to contest future general elections. However, such persons would have to renounce the nationality of the state other than Pakistan before taking oath as member of the Parliament. 23rd Constitutional Amendment Bill would put a bar of dual nationality on the government officers of Grade 20 and above.
A number of lawmakers including the National Assembly as well as provincial assemblies had to resign last week for having dual nationality because Election Commission of Pakistan had set November 30 as the deadline for the parliamentarians to submit affidavits in this regard.
A heated debate is likely in the House over Governor Punjab Latif Khosa’s remarks against 18th Amendment. Khosa, some days ago, while addressing PPP workers had said that Mian Raza Rabbani had disfigured Constitution through 18th Amendment. Awami National Party and National Party Balochistan have separately submitted their adjournment motions for a debate in the House over Khosa’s critical remarks against 18th Amendment.