In a bid to proceed with the legislation in Army Act, the government on Sunday formed a three-member committee for holding talk with opposition political parties.
Last month, the Supreme Court of Pakistan had ordered the government to pass legislation to clarify laws pertaining to extension or reappointment of an army chief, within six months.
Following the court order, a three-member committee comprising Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Asad Umar and Pervez Khattak, have been formed to hold talks with opposition parties to garner support for smooth sailing of the amendment in the Army Act.
The sources within the government said that Prime Minister Imran Khan has tasked the committee to proceed with the legislation as the apex court had categorically said that the legislation should be done within six months. They said that the leaders of all opposition parties in the parliament will be taken into confidence before initiating the legislation.
The PTI and its allies on one side and opposition parties on the other, have closely contested their positions in parliament. Given their respective numerical strength, the ruling coalition has around 225 MNAs while the opposition has nearly 221 members whereas the simple majority of the total lawmakers of 446 (342 MNAs and 104 senators) comes to 224.
The PTI has 156 members of the National Assembly (MNAs). Its allies have varying numbers. The Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q) and Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) have five members each; Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) has seven MPs; Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) has three lawmakers; Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) has four MNAs and Awami Muslim League and Jamhoori Watan Party have one member each besides the support of two independents. They all come to 184. In the Lower House of Parliament, the PML-N has 84 MNAs; Pakistan Peopleâ€(tm)s Party (PPP) has 55 MPs; Mutahidda Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) has 16 members; and Awami National Party (ANP) has one lawmaker.
Two independents stand with the opposition parties. In the Senate, the PTI is supported by 15 legislators, the MQM by 5 senators, the BAP by two MPs, and BNP-M and PML-Functional by one each.
If the decisive number of 16 senators, including those elected from the erstwhile tribal areas are placed in the government pocket, the total strength of the PTI and its allies come to 39 senators.
other hand, the PML-N has 31 senators (including Ishaq Dar, who canâ€(tm)t take part in voting for being abroad and not having taken oath); the PPP has 19 lawmakers; the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) has four members, National Party has five legislators; Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party has two senators; and ANP has one senator. All of them come to 62 members.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2019