The National Assembly (NA) was engulfed in a storm of protests on Tuesday as the Election Act Amendment Bill was passed with a majority vote, a decision that was fiercely contested by the opposition parties.
Under the firm chairmanship of NA Speaker Ayaz Sadiq, the session was a battleground of fervent debates and disruptions as the government pushed forward with its legislative agenda.
The newly passed Election Act Amendment Bill 2024 imposes constraints on independent candidates, preventing them from affiliating with any political party after a specified period post-election. It also states that candidates failing to submit an affidavit of party affiliation to the returning officer will be classified as independent. This marks a departure from previous legislation that allowed independents to join political parties after elections.
During the session, Rana Iradat Sharif, Chairman of the Parliamentary Affairs Standing Committee, presented a report on the Election Act Amendment Bill. Despite vociferous opposition, a motion introduced by Bilal Azhar Kayani, a member of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), received overwhelming support for the bill’s approval.
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The introduction of amendments to the bill by Ali Muhammad Khan, a representative of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), met opposition from Minister of Law Azam Nazeer Tarar. The Minister argued that the legislation was in accordance with the Constitution and dismissed allegations of it being unconstitutional. However, Khan claimed that the bill was designed to undermine the judiciary and obstruct political rights.
The opposition strongly protested and demonstrated their discontent by surrounding the speaker’s dais, tearing up copies of the agenda, and chanting slogans. Despite the charged atmosphere in the chamber, the bill gained approval, and the session ended with Speaker Sadiq calling for order as opposition protests continued.
The newly passed amendment bill carries significant provisions, such as parties failing to submit lists of candidates for reserved seats within the stipulated time becoming ineligible for those seats. Additionally, candidates failing to declare party affiliation before the returning officer will be treated as independents, with the amendment retroactively effective from the Election Act 2017.
