Unlike its strong opposition to the government’s bill for the creation of Bahawalpur Janoobi Punjab province, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) offered a soft resistance against the tabling of the 24th Amendment Bill 2013 and staged a walkout out of the session. To the surprise of the opposition benches, Minister for Law and Justice Farooq H Naik moved the bill, which was not on the agenda. Senate Chairman Nayyar Hussain Bukhari said since the report on the new provinces commission had been tabled, it had been referred to the standing committee concerned for further deliberations and a report should be presented within 10 days. The bill, which was not mentioned in the order of the day and was introduced through a supplementary agenda, proposed that the new province shall comprise territories of Multan, Bahawalpur, Dera Ghazi Khan, Mianwali and Bhakkar districts. On a point of order, Leader of the Opposition Ishaq Dar opposed the bill, saying it was a constitutional matter and the committee should be given adequate time to complete its report.
He suggested that the report of the parliamentary commission on new provinces should have been tabled before the Senate just like it had been tabled in the National Assembly. Speaking on a point of order, PML-N lawmaker Zafar Ali Shah said the bill was not on agenda despite it being a very serious matter. He said such an important issue could not be taken up without consultation with the opposition.
However, the law minister said this objection should have been raised by the opposition when the item was being taken up. He said since the chair had given a ruling, it could not be challenged further. This infuriated the PML-N senators and they opted to walk out from the Senate proceedings. Later, the chairman took the other two items on the agenda.
24th Amendment Bill: The bill will amend seven articles of the constitution to pave the way for the creation of a new province if passed by the Upper House. It is aimed at amending Article 1 so that the term ‘Bahawalpur Janoobi’ can be added before Punjab. By amending Article 59, the number of seats in the Senate would be increased to 127 and thus the existing Punjab would have a total 46, double of the existing number of seats in the Upper House with 23 seats each for Punjab and Bahawalpur Janoobi Punjab.
The amendment in articles 175A and 198 of the constitution would give way to the establishment of a high court in the new province and for the abolition of the Lahore High Court benches in Multan and Bahawalpur. Under this legislation, a commission, comprising chief justices of the four provincial high courts, shall be formed for the appointment of the chief justice and judges of the high court of Bahawalpur Janoobi Punjab.
Walkouts by Rabbani, others: Earlier, senators who are members of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security (PCNS) staged a walkout from the Senate over the non-tabling of the committee’s report on missing persons. Speaking on a point of order, PCNS Chairman Raza Rabbani expressed concern over the behaviour of the Senate Secretariat for not including a report prepared by the committee on missing persons despite assurance from the chairman. He said being chairman of the committee, he had already sent copies of the report to the prime minister, the National Assembly speaker and the Senate chairman so there was nothing to hide.
The Senate chairman said he would examine the issue raised by Rabbani, as there was no purpose to put the report on hold.
