All bills will be passed: Shibli Faraz on legislation on electoral reforms, other issues

• Faraz says “after a briefing, all allied parties have been convinced [to support NAB ordinance and bills]."
• Reiterates that bringing transparency in electoral process is impossible without use of modern technology.
• Says “PDM wants to oust [incumbent] govt by using inflation argument but it will fail."

PESHAWAR: Federal Minister for Science and Technology Shibli Faraz said Sunday that all the bills [related to electoral reforms and other issues] will be passed in the Parliament.

“After a briefing on the matter, all the allied parties have been convinced [to support the ordinance and bills],” said Faraz, while informing media about consultations between the ruling party and its allies.

The PTI allies, PML-Q and MQM-P, had expressed their concerns over the new legislation proposed by the government and complained of being "kept in the dark" over important decisions.

The differences among the coalition partners emerged when the government postponed the joint sitting of the Parliament due to a lack of consensus over the bills to be placed for passage.

Today, Faraz reiterated that bringing transparency in the electoral process is impossible without the use of modern technology as he asserted his support for the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).

The minister said that the Opposition parties’ alliance — the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) — is politicising inflation.

“PDM wants to oust the [incumbent] government by capitalising on inflation but it will fail,” said Faraz, adding that inflation is rising on a global level and Pakistan is just another country that is affected by it.

He said that PDM wants to benefit from every crisis but it neither has the solution for the problems of people nor does it have an alternate option to control inflation.

Faraz further stated that the “economic situation of Afghanistan is worrisome”, adding that international forces must play their part in the Afghan crisis.

'Objections on electoral reforms bill may be result of rifts in allied parties'

Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry Saturday had said that objections to the electoral reforms bill by the allied parties of the ruling PTI might be a result of internal differences among the political parties.

Speaking on Geo News programme Naya Pakistan, Fawad Chaudhry said that the ministers representing the allied parties were taken on board when the draft of the bill was presented before the Cabinet for approval.

"Even the bill was drafted by Law Minister Farogh Nasim, who himself is from an ally, MQM, and another federal minister from the party, Aminul Haq, being an in charge minister of IT, is looking into the technical aspect of the EVMs," Fawad added.

Similarly, he mentioned the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) as it, too, had representation in the Cabinet. The minister recalled that the allied parties had supported the bill passage when it was tabled in the National Assembly in June.

Govt postpones joint Parliament session

A joint session of Parliament convened on Wednesday was postponed soon after when the PTI allies raised concerns on the bills to be presented for approval.

Fawad announced that the joint session of the Parliament, scheduled for Thursday, had been postponed.

The information minister, however, made no mention of when the parliamentary session would instead be called.

Later, President Arif Alvi officially notified the session's deferral.

"In exercise of powers conferred by clause (1) of Article 54 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, I hereby withdraw the order issued to summon the Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) in joint sitting on Thursday, November 11, 2021, at 11:00 a.m. in the Parliament House, Islamabad. Consequently, the summoning/prorogation orders issued thereof stand rescinded," read the notification.

The session had been called by the government in order to pass the National Accountability Bureau Ordinance (Amendment) Bill and electoral reforms bill among other legislation items.

PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, while addressing the MNAs at a dinner he hosted at the Senate’s banquet hall on Tuesday, had said that the government had to postpone the Parliament’s joint session due to the efforts by the Opposition.

"Due to the opposition’s contacts with the government’s allies, the government had to retreat and cancel the joint session. Thanks to [leader of the Opposition] Shahbaz Sharif who gathered the Opposition parties,” said Bilawal.

Meanwhile, Shahbaz —while addressing the media after the dinner — said that the allies of the government refused to support it on the matter of the NAB Ordinance and electoral reforms bill.

“The government postponed the joint session due to the denial of its allies to support it,” he said.