ISLAMABAD: The Senate approved the 20th constitutional amendment during its session on Monday.
The
bill had already been passed unanimously by the National Assembly. The
bill was unanimously passed by the house as only two out of 76 members
opposed the Amendment. Professor Khursheed and Professor Ibrahim of
Jamat-e-Islami opposed the bill. The bill will be a law after President
Asif Ali Zardari signs the draft.
There have been hiccups in the
process, as PML-Q has opposed the suggestion to send matter of interim
set-up to the Chief Election Commissioner. The government has reportedly
agreed to bringing the 21st Amendment if need be. The Q-League was
of the view that if parliamentary committee could not settle the matter
of interim set-up, the matter should be sent to the parliament again
instead of sending to the chief election commissioner. ANP also
supported the PML-Q recommendations in this regard.
Different
parties expressed their concern for not giving representation to the
Senate in the proposed interim set-up. The members of the house also
suggested that Senate members should also be included in the
parliamentary committee constituted for the interim setup.
The
Senate members said that the committee should jointly be constituted by
the Senate Chairman and the Speaker National Assembly. Online
