Senin, 14 Februari 2011

Pakistan : Bill To Increase Minority Seats In NA Rejected Today, But all Hindu MNA's silent

By Gopinath Kumar (Editor-in-Chief)
Monday, February 14, 2011


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Krishan Somnath Brahman
Date: Mon, Feb 14, 2011 at 7:50 PM
Subject: Opposition forces Awan to attend NA body meeting
To: "Pakistan Hindu Post (PHP)"

 (Photo : National Assembly of Pakistan in Islamabad city)

ISLAMABAD, Feb 14: A strong protest by the opposition forced Law Minister Babar Awan to leave some `important engagement` and attend a meeting of the National Assembly`s Standing Committee on Law and Justice on Monday. 

The protest came two days after Mr Awan was reappointed in a reconstituted cabinet which followed a controversy mainly over exclusion of some heavyweights.

At the outset of the meeting, members belonging to the N and Q factions of the Pakistan Muslim League drew the attention of chairperson Nasim Akhtar Chaudhry to the absence of the law minister and refused to take part in proceedings.

The issue was raised by PML-Q`s Raza Hayat Hiraj and supported by PML-N`s women members.

A statement by Law Secretary Masood Chishti that the minister was busy in an important meeting infuriated the members who asked which meeting could be more important than that of an NA committee.

Mr Hiraj said it was not the first time that the minister had kept away from a meeting and urged the chairperson to present a record of attendance of the minister in the National Assembly as well.

Sensing the seriousness of the situation, the law secretary contacted Mr Awan and urged him to rush to the Parliament`s House to attend the meeting and the minister complied. BILL REJECTED:

The committee rejected a bill submitted by minority member Asia Nasir seeking an increase in seats for minorities in the National Assembly.

It deferred for further discussion a bill seeking an amendment to sections 1 and 2 of the Pakistan Penal Code to enhance punishment for people registering false FIRs.

An important accountability law has been pending before the committee for more than a year.

Opposition members have been blaming the non-serious attitude of the government for the delay.

On Feb 3, Deputy Speaker Faisal Karim Kundi had to suspend the NA proceedings after it failed to carry out legislative business because of the absence of the law minister.

Mr Kundi asked Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to take notice of what he said was “really a problem”. He complained that Mr Awan had come to the house only once during the entire session.

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