Former Senate chairman Farooq H Naek on Monday did not vote for the Constitutional Amendment Bill seeking insertion of new Article 25-B.
A joint bill – the Constitutional (Amendment) Bill, 2017 (Insertion of new Article 25-B) – was moved by PPP-P Senator Karim Ahmed Khawaja who was of the view that it should be a state’s responsibility to provide food, water, shelter and health.
Farooq Naek said that these things were covered in articles 4 and 9 of the Constitution mainly asking for rights to life. However, Chairman Raza Rabbani asked for voting on the bill after it was pressed by the mover.
The bill was rejected with 19 majority votes as 17 members favoured it. Unlike, other PPP-P senators, Farooq Naek did not vote for the bill and clarified his position on it.
Another bill “The Pakistan Bait-ul-Mal (Amendment) Bill, 2017 (Amendment of Section 4)” was also rejected by the House with majority votes. Twenty senators opposed this bill while 17 voted for it. The House also rejected a motion to introduce the Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (Amendment) Bill, 2017.