Despite low attendance, the National Assembly on Friday approved the National Counter Terrorism Authority Bill 2013 unanimously. The session started with tunes of the national anthem to mark the International Women’s Day, as the House unanimously adopted a resolution to pay tribute to women for their contribution in various sectors of life. The 15th sitting of National Assembly’s 50th session that lasted for an hour and eight minutes, opened under the leadership of Dr Fehmida Mirza after a delay of 47 minutes. There were only 64 members present in the House.
Federal Law Minister Farooq H Naek tabled The National Counter Terrorism Authority Bill 2013 in the House, which was taken up clause by clause. Tariq Shabir of the Pakistan People’s Party and Shereen Arshad of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz presented amendments in clauses 3,5,6,8,9,10 and 11 of the bill that were accepted and stood part of the bill after Naik did not oppose them. However, the amendment suggested for clause 7 of the bill presented by PML-N member Shereen Arshad was rejected due to opposition by the Law Minister. Dr Azra Fazal Peecho, chairperson of the NA standing body on defence presented a report on the Surveying and Mapping Bill 2013.
According to the National Counter Terrorism Authority Bill 2013, an anti-terrorism department would be formed that would be headed by the prime minister and a national policy against terrorism would be formulated.
The bill has already been approved by the Senate on March 5. According to the bill, suspects accused of terrorism will be interrogated by an inspector level officer, while audio video recordings, phone recordings and emails could be used as evidence. The bill also allows government authorities to take action against financiers of terrorism along with confiscation of assets. However, the National Assembly will be dissolved on March 16, which raises questions regarding who would formulate the anti-terrorism policy. Marking the International Women’s Day, the House unanimously adopted a resolution to pay tribute to women for their contribution to various sectors of life. The Question Hour was suspended as 10 legislators spoke for 30 minutes on the International Women’s Day.