ISLAMABAD: Chairman Senate Yousaf Raza Gilani has sought from the treasury and the opposition benches their respective nominations, to be forwarded to the Prime Minister, for appointments in the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP).
In the Senate sitting Tuesday, Gilani informed the House about a letter written to him by PM Shehbaz Sharif seeking nominations for JCP. The Senate chief asked the treasury and the opposition benches to submit their respective nominations— one each from both sides— for representation in the JCP.
Gilani presided over the Senate session after the House resumed its proceedings after remaining suspended for half an hour due to lack of quorum. Earlier, Saleem Mandviwalla from Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), chairing the Senate session, suspended the House proceedings when quorum was pointed out by Manzoor Kakar from Balochistan Awami Party (BAP), found to be lacking.
To Gilani’s announcement on JCP nominations, Opposition Leader Shibli Faraz responded that the opposition was engaged in consultation in this regard. He said that the formation of Senate and National Assembly was incomplete due to non-conduct of Senate polls on Khyber Pakhtunkhwa seats and non-allocation of reserved seats to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
Faraz demanded that respective resolutions should be moved in the two Houses of Parliament to get completed their formation. He lambasted the ECP for allegedly violating the Supreme Court’s order in the reserved seats case, and for not holding the elections on 11 seats of KP.
Apart from that, Senate passed the Seed (Amendment) Bill 2024, a government bill that seeks to establish the National Seed Development and Regulatory Authority and the Seed Tribunals, to “employ modern methods, ability transact with governmental and non-governmental entities, and integration of an effective regulatory regime.”
The bill has already been passed by the NA and now requires President Asif Zardari’s ascent to become a law.
National Food Security Minister Rana Tanveer Hussain presented the bill in the Senate that was passed by the House without being first referred to the relevant Senate standing committee.
According to the bill’s statement of objects and reasons, the purposed amendments in the Seed Act 1976 (through this bill) seek to establish National Seed Development and Regulatory Authority and the Seed Tribunals.
For this purpose, the authority has been equipped with all requisite powers and functions, including legal character as a body corporate, power to employ modern methods, ability transact with governmental and non-governmental entities, and integration of an effective regulatory regime, reads the statement.
Another government bill, the Legal Aid and Justice Authority (Amendment) Bill 2024, moved by Hussain on behalf of Law Minister Azam Tarar, was referred to the relevant Senate panel.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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