-PML-N’s Abbasi says govt has refused to accept amendments proposed by Opp parties in NAO
-Qureshi says Opp parties linking changes to NAB law with FATF-linked legislation
By Ajmal Khan Yousafzai
ISLAMABAD: The opposition and government on Tuesday locked horns over proposed amendments to the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO) and legislation related to the action plan of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
Addressing reporters after the opposition walked out of a parliamentary committee meeting with the government, former prime minister and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) senior leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said that the government’s bill concerning the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) was the same as before.
“We said that this can’t be accepted and it was then decided that the bill concerning the NAO would be debated section by section and a new amendment bill will be finalised,” he said, adding that discussion on the bill took place on Monday but when the committee again met on Tuesday it was told that the government does not agree with these amendments.
“We questioned which amendments they had an issue with, but they didn’t have an answer. So we said that if they can’t talk on the amendments in good faith, when they were the ones to bring the bills, then we can’t move forward,” he said.
“Because the government isn’t talking in good faith and because their intentions, I don’t think, are for working in national interest, we walked out of the meeting,” he said.
On Monday, the proposed amendments to the FATF-related United Nations (Security Council) Bill 2020, Anti Terrorism (Amendment) Bill 2020 and NAO came under discussion at the second meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on Legislative Business presided over the foreign minister.
Earlier on Tuesday, Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry questioned the effectiveness of amendments to the NAO if they were deliberated upon by members of the National Assembly currently facing charges by the anti-corruption watchdog.
“I think that members facing NAB charges should distance themselves from the committee, out of respect for the parliament,” he said.
Meanwhile, FM Qureshi said that the opposition had linked changes to the NAB law with the FATF-related legislation.
“When the PTI came into power, Pakistan was already on the FATF grey list,” he said, adding that he had “no doubt” over the opposition’s patriotism.
“Everyone wants the sword hanging over Pakistan to be removed,” he said.
“We are trying to bring Pakistan out of the grey list through diplomatic engagement. This is an issue of national security.
At the last meeting in Paris, our efforts were lauded but we have to fulfill some more conditions which require legislation.
“We require the cooperation of the opposition,” he said, adding that the government had introduced four bills. “These bills are time-bound; if we pass these bills today then our case will be reviewed by October.”
The opposition wants to club the FATF and NAB bills, he said. “The FATF legislation is time-bound whereas we have been discussing changes in NAB’s laws for the past 10 years.”
The government had handed over the draft of the NAB amendment bill which was mostly based on the ordinance that had been promulgated previously, he said. “The opposition termed it a non-starter and gave us their own draft with 35 amendments.”
Most of these, the foreign minister said, are not acceptable to us. “The draft was also presented to the premier and there was an exchange of views.”
I presented to the opposition the stance of the government and the party, he said.
“Briefly, I told them that the changes they wanted were not acceptable for the PTI because our core agenda/principle is anti-corruption.
“If legislation is carried out on these 35 changes in this form then the institution and the process of accountability will become meaningless. “We have to make a law for prosperity, keeping in mind public interest,” he said.
The NAO amendment bill reportedly seeks to spare public office holders from NAB action for any step taken in “good faith”.
The NAO amendment bill proposes omitting the word “non-extendable” from clause (i) of sub-section (b) of Section 6 that pertains to the tenure of the NAB chairman that is currently four years.
It has also been suggested that extension in tenures of the NAB deputy chairman and prosecutors general of accountability, who are appointed for three years, be allowed by removing the word “non-extendable” from Sections 7 and 8.
