ISLAMABAD – With the passage of 6 and 2 months after submitting ‘The Redistributive Land Reforms Bill 2010’ and ‘Deweaponization of Pakistan Bill 2011’ respectively in the National Assembly secretariat, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement has so far failed to take any parliamentary party from both treasury and opposition benches on board to get its proposed pieces of legislation passed by the parliament.
At the times of introducing these legislative bills, MQM had announced that it will take other parties including Pakistan People’s Party, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid, Awami National Party, Jamiat-e-Uleema-Islam-Fazal, Jamaat-e-Islami, FATA parliamentarians and others on board to get the bills passed by the parliament but the party has not entered into serious talks with other parties to win their support for its proposed bills’ smooth passage.
MQM even failed to move land reforms bills in the house in the National Assembly’s 27th, 28th and 29th sessions convened in December 2010, January and February 2011 respectively. According to the rules, the bills will remain pending in NA secretariat till after being moved in the house, they are referred by the house to the concerned standing committee for consideration.
Mian Riaz Hussain Pirzada, PML-Q chief whip in the National Assembly said that the MQM had not consulted his party to win support for its proposed bills. “The land reforms bill of the MQM has many flaws in it,” he added. On October 12, 2010, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) submitted a land reforms bill in the National Assembly secretariat proposing limits on land holdings.
The bill proposed that each family should be allowed to own a maximum of 30 acres irrigated or 54 acres arid (barani) land. The bill proposed that from the commencement of this act, all land within the territorial limits of provinces, whether owned or leased or occupied or tenanted or encumbered or mortgaged with or without possession by any person, be resumed in the name of the provincial government.
Under the proposed redistribution of land, each landless family of the cultivator or tenant or small land owner shall be granted land out of the land that has been seized. Sheikh Aftab Ahmed, PML-N’s chief whip in the National Assembly said that his party’s central command had not been contacted by the MQM for winning support on its proposed bills.
On January 17, 2011, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) submitted another bill ‘Deweaponization of Pakistan Bill 2011’in National Assembly (NA) to make the country free from illegal arms and ammunition. After submitting bill in the National Assembly, MQM’s parliamentary leader Farooq Sattar had said it was need of the hour to take measures for imposition of ban on unauthorised manufacturing, trafficking, possession and use of illegal arms and ammunition.
He proposed constitution of a parliamentary committee to suggest measures for improvement in police system, community policing and police reforms to achieve the objectives of deweaponisation.
